July talk: Running out of Steam

 Our July talk was also called 'Two Painters and a Poet' referring to three men who started life in the railway works and in the case of Hubert Cook (1901-1966) and Leslie Cole (1910-1976) became artists and Alfred Williams (1877-1930) was known as the Hammerman Poet. Philip Garrahan, an academic and art historian, who gave the talk was initially interested in the Ashington Group of painters who were in existence from 1934-84; they were a group of miners also known as the Pitmen Painters depicting life down the pit.

Philip was interested to explore Swindon artists who started working life at the railway works and went onto become artists. Hubert Cook and Leslie Cole were obvious contenders; both starting life in the works and leaving to become artists. What did they paint? And what did they have to say?

Here are 2 self portraits of the two artists, Cook on the left and Cole on the right; they are remarkably similar in their expressions, bearing and what they are wearing:

Hubert Cook studied at Swindon School of Art 1926-34 under Harold Dearden and then went on to Central Art School from 1935-38 and subsequently taught at Portsmouth Polytechnic

Here are a couple of his paintings, above a 'shingler' heating up metal and below a painting entitled 'The Toilers' conveying the heat and dirt in the works.

Leslie Cole went to Swindon Art School and was also taught by Harold Dearden and then went to the Royal College of Art where Ravilious and Bawden were teaching.

These first examples of his work depict social life in a pub, probably in Swindon, please see later comments from a member of the Friends.

This is one of his railway works paintings

Then we were shown several paintings made when he became a war artist from 1942-45 which depict another level of painting altogether. I have just looked at the Imperial War Museum website and found 4 pages of Leslie Cole paintings he produced as a War Artist from 1941- 46. His work is phenomenal and cranked up several gears from paintings he produced before he became a war artist.

Above 'Mother Mourning the Death of a Village Priest'.

The painting above is titled 'Malta: Preparing for the Night in the Crypt of St.Augustine's Valetta'

Above 'No Time to Lose: Soldiers Dockers unloading a Convoy during a Raid'

This one is' Belsen Camp- The Compound for Women' and below: 'Dentistry during the Hour of Gas Practice'

Interestingly after the talk, a member of the Friends emailed with the following:

'I enjoy all the SMAG talks.... but I wish my husband had watched 2 painters and a poet - the Railway artists in Swindon . I know you record them. How do I see them? .. I heard you mention UTUBE but where would I look?

My husband's father "Grandad Cooke " worked in the railway as did they all. He was in the foundry and worked on a steam hammer. When he finished  his shift he went into one of the pubs on the corner of the Railway village. No not as a sad drunk but to slake his thirst after the tremendous heat. 

The Glue pot is still there and relates to the workmen needing to keep their glue warm and  pliable  so they were able to put their glue pot down whist trying to overcome their thirst . Bet there was a nasty smell from those glues.. boiled animal bones.'

And talking of the Glue Pot, I looked it up and found an Adver article on the pub by Graham Carter, isn't it amazing how on thing runs onto another. Do have a look at his article.

To clarify the situation regarding recordings: as many talks as possible are recorded and then put onto the website under 'Videos' and can be found here:

 Videos of Talks - Friends of Swindon Museum & Art Gallery (friendsofsmag.org)

They are not edited, so there are interruptions which one would normally edit out.

SM&AG: Work Starts in Major Step

 Good news re work beginning to the fabric of the Civic Offices to convert the first floor into the new Swindon Museum and Art Gallery in a press release this week which can be read here. Friends were asked for a quote which appears in the article. We will keep everyone informed via emails and this blog about progress being made towards opening Swindon Museum and Art Gallery in the Civic Offices.

Swindon Advertiser reporter Aled Thomas wrote the piece and ended it with this sentence: 'Work is expected until at least summer 2024'. This seemed a bit unclear, but maybe it's Aled's interpretation. I'm also unsure why the first floor of the Civic Offices is referred to as the second floor.

Above a photo of Cllr Marina Strinkovsky, Cabinet Member for Culture, Art and Heritage standing between two Dee Ferris paintings on display in Committee Room 3 in the Civic Offices, a gallery space open to the general public.

Advertiser article on arts and culture in Swindon

 With the change in administration after the local elections in May, we have a new Cabinet member for culture, art and heritage in Swindon, Cllr Marina Strinkovsky. Last week in an article in the Swindon Advertiser, the headline was: 'Arts and Culture in Swindon is a match for any other comparable town'. If you click on the link, you can read the complete article.

Here's Cllr Strinkovsky photographed beside two new acquisitions to the Swindon Collection by Dee Ferris:

You can see these paintings in Committee Room 3 in the Civic Offices.

Old Photos in the Swindon Advertiser

 Here's the link to the Swindon Advertiser article, entitled 'Ten Throwback Photos of Swindon Museum' by Tina Robbins. I'll include some of the photos below, to see more and the article, please click on the link:

Above the famous croc, really a gharial, killed almost 100 years ago and given pleasure to many since then.

These are particularly lovely, featuring children enjoying the museum exhibits.

What's happening with our museum?

 Last week, the Save our Museum and Gallery group, SoMAG, decided we needed to give an update on our museum and art gallery which remains closed to the public. In a town identified as having low cultural engagement, why close the museum and art gallery, without plans for another one, except in the distant future? We sent this letter to the Swindon Advertiser, which they kindly published today:

'Whatever has happened to the wonderful things we used to see in our Museum and Art Gallery?

Like many venues, Apsley House, the building that housed Swindon’s beloved “crocodile” and the Egyptian mummy, closed because of the pandemic. Unlike other venues, it remains closed. Swindon Borough Council’s leaders say a new museum and art exhibition facility should be built in the centre of town, as part of a planned cultural quarter. So the collections have been put into storage, and Swindon residents can see a few of the artworks via worthy but small exhibitions called Art on Tour.

Swindon Borough Council’s leaders admit it will take at least ten years for the new facility to be built. The Save our Museum and Art Gallery (SoMAG) have asked the council to ensure that the collections have a suitable home until then. In December 2021, the Cabinet decided to convert the entire top floor of the Civic Offices into a museum and art gallery. So far, so good. But something does not add up.

In March 2019, the council estimated it would cost £1,864,000 to convert the first floor of the Civic Offices. It now claims it will cost £400,000. We have asked how the cost of conversion can have fallen by £1,464,000, but had no answer.

Our rapidly growing town is already identified by the Arts Council as having low cultural engagement. This is shameful. A significant part of our culture is locked up somewhere, out of sight.

For two months, we have been trying to meet the Culture Councillor, Robert Jandy, to discuss when we will have a museum and art gallery fit for the town. Swindon risks becoming a dormitory town, with huge housing estates and no facilities. Instead, let’s create a place we can all enjoy, and let’s start by valuing what we have got. Swindon Museum and Art Gallery remains closed and it is not good enough.

Linda Kasmaty

Chair of the Friends of Swindon Museum and Art Gallery(FSMAG)  and Save our Museum and Gallery (SoMAG)'

Here's a link to the letter in the Swindon Advertiser: 

Letters: What's happening with our museum? | Swindon Advertiser 

With this photo standing outside the Civic Offices before a council meeting:

Two Reports in today's Swindon Advertiser

 There are two reports of the situation regarding the closure of Swindon Museum and Art Gallery at Apsley House in today's Swindon Advertiser. The first found here concentrates on presenting the petition and Cllr Renard's response, with a photo taken outside the Civic Offices by Aled Thomas before we went in:

The second article looks at a possible lifeline thrown by South Swindon Parish Council who will discuss on Wednesday evening whether they might take over the running of the museum and gallery until alternative premises are found.

More updates when we have them.

Dr Desmond Morris Talks to the Friends

 We were very fortunate last week to have a talk given by our Patron, Dr Desmond Morris, who was present at the Launch of the Friends of 6 July 1993. I have been very keen to invite him to talk to us for some time, but when he was living in Oxford, it seemed a long way to ask him to travel; he's now living in Ireland, but we are now able to invite people into our living rooms via Zoom, so distance is no problem.

Desmond ranged from the beginnings of the Morris's involvement in Swindon and then he reminisced about his time in Swindon from 1933-51 with some wonderful tales which are mostly captured on video here:

 https://youtu.be/CpDtPd-bgpE 

 However due to relief that I'd let the record 84 Zoom participants into the talk, I didn't manage to record the first part of the talk where Desmond traced the ancestral route to Swindon as follows:

After being injured in the Napoleonic war, James Morris, originally from the Welsh borders, didn’t make it home, but stopped off in Swindon where he remained and opened a bookshop in Wood Street. His son, William Morris, Desmond’s great grandfather thought it was unfair that ordinary people didn’t have access to newspapers because they were so expensive, he used to go to London, bring back old newspapers and rent them out to people. At that time, there was stamp duty on news items, whereas fiction, like Charles Dickens publications didn’t attract it. William discovered that if news publications were produced monthly, there was no stamp duty on them. On 6 February 1854, William Morris produced the first monthly newspaper in the country for 1d. Desmond held up a copy of the paper, the front page of which advertised Morse’s Herbal Ointment which cured many maladies. This was produced by Levi Lapper Morse, you can still buy the jars the ointment was sold in today online.

The newspapers were originally sold from the bookshop before moving to larger premises at 100 Victoria Road, where they remained until the offices closed recently and the Swindon Advertiser newspaper production was moved to Richmond House, Hindle Way, SN3 3RB.

The talk was fascinating in many respects, the funniest part was when Desmond Morris described  going out with Diana Dors and trying to remove the copious amounts of lipstick which ended up smeared over his face. We have 3 of Desmond's surrealist paintings in the Swindon Collection of 20th Century art, 'Girl Selling Flowers' seen below was painted when Desmond was 18, and depicts Diana Dors and those amazing lips, peroxide blond hair and huge eyebrows:

This painting entitled 'The Mystery Gift' came into the Collection in 1965

This painting, 'The Incident' was a Christmas present to the Friends the Christmas before last in 2019

 Graham Carter wrote this lovely piece inspired by Desmond's talk:

 https://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/19104828.graham-carter-keeping-active-mind-inspired-dr-desmond-morris/

It was certainly an evening to remember, and judging by the number of emails thanking Desmond for the talk, I think many others felt the same.