Free Lunchtime Talk: Abstract Painting in the '60s

There are quite a few people who regularly like to attend the Friday lunchtime talks in the main gallery, and so when Sophie Cummings left, there was concern among other things, about the fate of the lunchtime talks. Fortunately Katie Ackrill, Art on Tour Project Engagement Officer at the museum is doing a series of talks, including the lunchtime ones.

On 28 February, Katie gave her first lunchtime talk which was advertised like this:

'This tour of Pop and Prosperity will focus on a selection of abstract paintings on display, including works by Howard Hodgkin, Roger Hilton and William Gear. Katie will discuss the context in which abstract art flourished during the 1960s, and shed some light on some of the more challenging works on display.'

 I'm going to start with a definition of abstract art from Wikipedia:

'Abstract art uses visual language of shape, form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world' The word 'degree' is interesting there because I would have left it out in a definition, if it's there, abstract art is harder to identify.

 Definitions aside, there were over 20 people attending the talk, in fact it was quite difficult to get a good photo of Katie, just about visible, because there were so many people, in these 2 photos.

 Katie started by talking about the William Gear painting 'Presence on White painted June 1961, and a gift from the artist's family in 2015. After Katie had talked about it, I looked more carefully at it than before and quite liked it.

Here's Katie, seen below, talking about Jack Smith's 'Night Sky' painted in 1957, gifted by H.J.P.Bomford in 1960, and conserved with the support of the Friends in 2017. The painting zings and sparkles after its conservation.

 And here's Katie talking about Roger Hilton's painting 'November' painted in 1955 and gifted by the Contemporary Art Society, seen face on below

Next Katie encouraged us to look at Sir Terry Frost's 'Grey, Red and Black Verticals' painted in 1962, another gift of the CAS

 and below 'Once' painted in 1962 by Richard Smith purchased with the support of the V&A Purchase Grant in 1972.

 And Howard Hodgkin's 'Gramophone' 1964-66

 Katie included 'The Thames' painted in 1962 by Mary Fedden. I thought this couldn't be classified as abstract art because it looks recognisable as boats on water with flowers and walls in the foreground on the right hand side of the painting. Reading through the definition above, it can be included as an abstract piece.

 After the talk, people went on talking to each other, and Katie, about the paintings for some time which was great.

 Please note that I have kept details of what would have happened this year, due to Covid-19, and the consequent lockdown, all activities for the moment have been cancelled.
As soon as anything is happening, I will put out messages.
The next lunchtime talk in the gallery would have been:

A Celebration of Colour (with Katie Ackrill)

Friday 1^st May, 12:30pm

This tour will highlight the use of colour in artworks included in Pop and Prosperity, as well as 2D and 3D works in our ceramics exhibition A Celebration of Colour. Starting in the main gallery, Katie will discuss the significance of colour in selected paintings on show. The tour will conclude in the downstairs galleries, with a focus on the gorgeous glazes of Swindon’s studio ceramics. 

Katie will be giving talks about artworks on display at STEAM and the Civic Offices beginning in March/April, and all the dates are on our website, and the museum's website
Also copies of posters sent over by Katie, this one lists Civic Office dates:

 and this one Steam dates:

 Also a poster advertising the lunchtime talks

Friday Lunchtime Talk

Before Christmas Sophie Cummings, Curator at Swindon Museum and Art Gallery gave her last FREE Friday lunchtime talk on the exhibition in the small part of the gallery. As regulars to Sophie's talks will know, they are carefully thought out, very informative, and give insights into the thinking behind the exhibitions. I have attended lots of the talks, and will miss Sophie's witty and insightful comments about paintings and artists. I have thoroughly enjoyed the talks and know I speak for many others when I say she will be missed, and would like to say a big 'thank you' for the talks and the meticulous preparation which went into them, although this was never obvious in her smooth, confident delivery.

The exhibition of prints is called Hit repeat: Prints from the Swindon Collection of Modern British Art. As the  museum's website says:

'Printmaking can take many forms, from lithographs to etchings to woodcuts and even digital prints.

This exhibition brings together a selection of prints from Swindon’s Collection, so visitors can explore this vital and engaging art form for themselves. The exhibition includes work by Allen Jones, Basil Beattie, Christopher Nevinson and Katherine Jones.'

 I have included all the photos I took of Sophie talking to the group of people who came. The one above gives an idea of the atmosphere in the gallery when Sophie is talking Ian Hamilton Finlay's screenprint 'The Battle of Midway' can be seen in the background.

 This one above is similar, but showing the audience, below Sophie has moved to the other side of the room and discussed Allen Jones' 'One Night Only' just seen on the right.

 and in this one, round the corner, and into the main gallery, Sophie is talking about the new Nevison print.

 which you would be able to see if there wasn't a head in the way!!

 I took a few photos of prints Sophie talked about, although feeling a bit emotional, I haven't remembered much of what was said. I've photographed some of the information sheets, so that might help.

 Above is 'Goshawk' a wood engraving by Charles Tunnicliffe. Wood engraving and woodcuts are some of the earliest forms of printmaking and date back to the 14th century. The design is carved into the wood, the surface is then covered in ink and pressed onto cloth or paper, the cuts create white areas, inverse to the cuts made.

 Above 'Narcissus' an etching by Michael Ayrton, an etching is made by covering a metal plate in wax and the artist scores the design into the wax. The plate is then dipped into acid which reacts with the metal where the wax has been removed. Etching creates precise prints with dark lines and areas of shadow.

 Above one of the three photocopied pages and collage by Monster Chetwynd 'Catpeople 2,3 and 4' 2017

 Above Martin Brewster's Rabley No.4 2009, a photogravure etching.
The exhibition runs until the 4th of January, if you haven't yet seen it, there are only 2 days left.

Lunchtime talk- Touring the Swindon Collection, 60 Years On

Curator Sophie Cummings gave another really insightful lunchtime talk on Friday 18 October on this wonderful exhibition which reminds us how truly fabulous some of the paintings donated by

In 1959, the Swindon Collection of Modern British art began a tour of 16 towns and cities of the United Kingdom.

'From Falmouth to Sunderland, Southend-on-Sea to Bolton, thousands of museum visitors were introduced to paintings by Paul Nash, LS Lowry, Gwen John and Graham Sutherland. This new exhibition celebrates the sixtieth anniversary of this tour, which introduced the people of Britain to Swindon’s remarkable art and established the reputation of the ‘Swindon Collection’.

This exhibition brings together the 44 works of art sent ‘on tour’ in 1959 and presents them alongside some of the most important acquisitions we have made in the decades since. The exhibition explores the history of the collection and the ambitions and challenges of touring so many pictures to so many places'.

There were at least 20 of us assembled to hear the talk. There's always something new to learn about the collection and Sophie always brings it to life with anecdotes and stories. For example there was one painting that didn't return from the tour. There's a photograph on the wall at the far end of the gallery showing what it looked like, it depicts the platform at Swindon station, and as Sophie remarked, considering the quality of the work on tour, that painting would have been the least covetable.

 Here's Sophie talking about Ben Nicholson's 'Composition in Black and White' painted in 1933 and gifted by H.J.P.Bomford in 1946. The photo I have taken is a bit full of reflections. I'll find a substitute soon. I had never before really appreciated this painting, but Sophie's explanation of its qualities made me really look again, and I saw much more in it.

Another Bomford gift is a big favourite with many visitors, seen below, 'Winter in Pendelbury', 1943 is a beautifully captured and composed snowy scene.

What I hadn't noticed before was the pub sign seen below, have a look next time you look at the painting.

The current ceramics exhibition is called 'Time for Tea' and has lots of tea related pieces. I hadn't seen this beautiful jug before, it's by Glyn Colledge, stoneware with painted glazes, purchased in 2014.

The next lunchtime talks are:
22 November - about Time for Tea Ceramics exhibition
20 December - Hit Repeat, Prints from the Swindon Collection

Lunchtime talk about Connections an exhibition by Group 7 exhibition

This group exhibition brings together the artists of group 7, who have a strong commitment to the media of drawing, painting and printmaking.

They share an interest in abstract and expressive painting with a strong use of colour. The exhibition showcases their recent work, allowing visitors to discover this fascinating art ensemble for themselves.

The group comprises Brian Bishop, Fran Donovan, Martyn Brewster, Ursula Leach, Bonnie Brown, Peter Symons and Michelle Griffiths, all of whom are based in the South of England.
Sophie Cummings, curator at the museum recently gave us further insights than provided by the excellent handout into this exhibition by looking at the exhibition as a whole and then discussing artists work in turn.

I took a few photos of Sophie talking about the work and this one below of the audience

Sophie gave an excellent talk on the exhibition

This is a general view, and after writing the blog post the first time, I decided I'd better go round again and take more photos of each artist's work

Going round the exhibition as most people seem to do, in an anticlockwise direction, we start with the work of Brian Bishop, seen below:

 Brian's work is probably the brightest of all the artist's work in the exhibition, this use of colour is explained in detail in the handout accompanying the exhibition, written by Michelle Griffiths

 Above is one of Fran Donovan's landscapes, a screenprint, 'Across the Ridgeway' which I feel conveys textures of the Ridgeway rather well. There are a group of 4 of Fran's landscapes in the exhibition below:

 The next artist featured on the tour round the exhibition in an anticlockwise direction is Bonnie Brown, she is quoted as saying 'Light, its effects and qualities of transience, fragility and hope, inform the work.'

 Above is 'Night Tracks Fragment 4', oil on paper, and below another piece by Bonnie Brown

 The next artist is Ursula Leach whose painting below is titled 'Path', it's carborundum and hand colouring

 This picture below is one by Peter Symons titled 'Jetty series 6 No 29 and is mixed media on paper.

 Here it is with two others.

 We then move round to Michelle Griffiths work, she says 'In my own work, I explore the way colour can contribute to a visual language that works as a metaphor for personal experience of, and observation of personal dispositions, relationships and behaviour.'

 Here's a close up of one of 'What's Next?'

and finally the work of Martyn Brewster

 and the fantastically electric blue painting

This exhibition runs until 7 September, do go and have a look if you can, and make a note of the dates of the
Next lunchtime talks:
20.9.19 Touring the Swindon Collection
11.10.19 Ken White: Railways and Landscapes
18.10.19 Touring the Swindon Collection
22.11.19 Time for tea
20.12.19 Hit Repeat
More details on the website

Lunchtime talk about Touring the Swindon Collection: 60 years on

The lunchtime talks which accompany exhibitions are usually given by curator Sophie Cummings and give a wonderful insight into the thinking behind the title, and the reason for bringing together these particular works and displaying them in a certain way. This exhibition brings together 44 works which toured the country in 1959, along with some more recent acquisitions. There are more information panels than is often the case because visitors have said they very much enjoy finding out more about the history of paintings.

Here's the 'title wall'

and Sophie just visible above and below talking to about 20 of us

Two shipyard paintings,  John Nash, Dredgers, Bristol Harbour, 1924 on the right

This is a dated looking watercolour by Leslie Kent, 'Home before the Storm', a watercolour painted c 1950, purchased 1951. I've included it because it's so atypical of the Swindon Collection.

Below, another watercolour by Philip Wilson Steer, 'Boats in Harbour' painted in 1920, and presented by the Contemporary Arts Society in 1946.

Below one of the H.J.P.Bomford gifted works by Henry Moore, entitled 'Three Women and a Child', 1944, donated 1946

And last but by no means least, another of the Bomford gifted works in 1946, by Jankel Adler, 'Composition' produced in 1943

There's a lot of reflection so it's difficult to see, but do go and look at the exhibition if you can. There's an information panel on Jankel Adler, and various other artists.