Preparing for Tim Hyman RA on Thursday 28 April

I thought I'd have a look at Tim Hyman's paintings on the Internet last night so I could illustrate Facebook posts encouraging people to come along to his talk.
These were my top four paintings:

 Above 'Painting the Family', and below 'A Thousand Miles a Day'

 Below 'Night Taxi: Tamar Garb and Linda Nochin'

 I also loved this one: 'Maggie's House- Winter night'

Hope to see you on Thursday evening, can't wait to find out more about Tim.

'Hide and Seek' new exhibition at SM&AG

We were really excited to be attending the opening of the new exhibition of work by Eileen Cooper RA in the main gallery on Tuesday evening. Lots of people attended, the canapes were tasty, and the 'Hide and Seek' exhibition looks fabulous in the gallery.
It was great to see so many people chatting to those they knew and meeting people they didn't, a good networking opportunity.
I took a few photos of people rather than the exhibition, more on that in another blog post when people have had a chance to have a look for themselves.
On the way in:

Council Leader, David Renard talking about how pleased he is to see Eileen Cooper's exhibition in Swindon Museum and Art Gallery, with Erik B-G's ear and check shirt partly framing the picture.

 Below a great shot of Ray Ward

 And Chair of the Trust formed to lead the bid for funding for the new museum and art gallery, Robert Hiscox, thrilled to welcome Eileen Copper and talking about the new museum and art gallery and what it will do for Swindon.

 And the star of the evening, Eileen Cooper talking about the painting behind her among other things.

 Eileen Cooper will be coming to talk about this exhibition on May 12th at 7.30pm, and before that there will be a special social with Eileen for Friends from 6pm. You will need to book for both these events.

http://swindonlink.com/2016/04/swindon-museum-art-gallery-hosts-major-exhibition-by-royal-academician-eileen-cooper/

Private Passion, Public Face - a talk by Mark Golder

Our talk last Thursday 31 March was by Mark Golder, a collector, he gave us the title 'Private Passion, Public Face, and began by talking about the first half of the title; how he became a collector. Mark is a passionate collector and talked amusingly and fascinatingly about it for the first half of the talk. Here we are waiting to start :

 Mark tried making ceramic pots, but found he couldn't achieve the results he had hoped for, so he began collecting them. He began with ceramics because they were cheaper than bronzes, and he was influenced by other collectors he cited particularly Sir Alan Barlow, an oriental ceramics collector, Helen Barlow who in 1978 donated work and said 'If you've got it, share it'. Marina Vaizey also advised him where to go to begin collecting.
In addition to ceramics, Mark also set up a fund to buy Scottish prints for Pallant House Gallery, and then moved onto English prints, choosing Royal Academicians' work.
At home, positioning ceramics and pictures has been practicised as an art form in itself, Mark showed us how he positions ceramics according to texture together. They stay there for up to 5 years, after which time they are replaced by other arrangements.

 I've included two, although I don't think you can really see that much, but you get the idea.

Mark has collected the work of some 140 different artists, and bought up to 12 pieces from each one. When he first saw Edmund de Waal's ceramics, he bought 12 pieces at once, and although they have increased hugely in value, Mark would never sell anything he's bought, preferring to share it with others by donating pieces to Swindon Museum and Art Gallery and Pallant House Gallery
The second half of the talk moved onto the pieces donated to SM&AG recently. This was also a fascinating insight into what Mark liked about pieces, and I saw them anew, and went to photograph them in the art gallery cases the next day.
Here they are starting with 2 Edmund de Waal's:

 Below are 2 pieces by William Plumptre from the Lake District, but much influenced by Japanese ceramicists.

 This is a geometric stoneware vase from 2010 by Sun Kim.

 Above 3 vases on a stand with Raku glazes by Kate Schuricht c 2013 which were so pleasing because of the green colour in the glaze as well as the shape of the vases.

 Above three white pieces, Mark said 'some whites are exquisite, they enable you to look at form'. The 'Figurative Form' piece by Bruce Chivers is particularly memorable. The bowl is by Peter Wills, and the other earthenware vase by Martin Clark.

 Below is a fabulously coloured footed porcelain bowl by Eddie and margaret Curtis

And the other piece donated by Mark which caught my eye was this vase which from where I was sitting for the talk looked black, but certainly isn't, do go and have a look at the colours. It's a stoneware with glaze vase made by David Frith c 1998.

 A really enjoyable evening, thank you Mark. He has offered to return, so if you missed him last time, come and sample his infectious enthusiasm.

Our Very Special Visit to the Royal Academy

It all began with an email from Meryl Ainslie inviting the Friends to visit Eileen Cooper RA in her studio when she said:

'I have spoken to Eileen Cooper RA and she would be delighted to welcome the Friends of Swindon Museum and Gallery to visit her studio at the Royal Academy and the RA Keepers House on Tuesday 22 March 2016

Eileen has offered to show you her studio in the Keepers House and talk about the RA schools and her role as Keeper of the Royal Academy.

She is keen for you to have a very special visit and has kindly offered to organise tickets for one of the current RA exhibitions for those who are not already members of the RA. There are two fantastic shows to consider. 

In the Age of Giorgione

12 March — 5 June 2016

Painting the Modern Garden: Monet to Matisse

30 January — 20 April 2016'

What an opportunity! We booked a coach and quickly filled the 30 places for the studio visit, and then took a few more people who were keen to visit the RA..

The day of the visit dawned bright and sunny with fabulous blue skies, 34 of us boarded the coach in Old Town at 9.15am, and as the coach sped along the M4, we imagined we might be at the Royal Academy in 2 hours, however the last mile proved very slow with a broken down car with steam issuing from it in a tunnel, and then various other hindrances like removal vans, meant we arrived about noon. We were given passes to the fabulous private 'Academicians' Room' and to the Gorgione exhibition, so a few of us headed straight up to have refreshments up there:

 It's a lovely space, a bit like a huge lavishly furnished very comfortable living room with amazing ceramics behind the bar. I could have stayed there all afternoon, but there were other things to see. If you click on the link, you can see it's meant to look like a lavish living room!!

 I'm a lover of tree ferns, so was very impressed by the RA tree ferns seen from the stairs up to the Academicians' Room

From there we went for a preliminary look at 'Painting the Modern Garden' before heading to Eileen Cooper's studio at 1.30pm. It's a huge and very popular exhibition with some wonderful paintings on show; paintings that take your breathe away.
And so to the studio where I took some photos of Eileen Cooper talking to us

and some of the audience which included two of our Friends who live in London and were thrilled to be able to join us for the day. It was lovely to meet them, and I'm hoping they can come to more of our events.

Another one of the audience looking completely rapt and full of admiration for Eileen Cooper as she described her journey from schoolgirl who loved art, and was directed towards hairdressing, but fortunately swerved away from that and went to art school. Since then she has painted all her life by organising her time carefully and included a teaching career and motherhood in between producing her own work. It's not surprising when you meet her and hear her talking that Eileen Cooper is the first woman Keeper of the Royal Academy since it began in 1768

I included the photo below because it shows the trolley with painting paraphernalia.

I asked Eileen if it would be alright to take photos of her work, and she said 'Yes' so here are some of the glorious works in the studio:

  The paintings are great to look at and a great taster for the 'Hide and Seek' exhibition coming to Swindon on Wednesday 19th of April. You will also get chance to hear Eileen Cooper talking on Thursday 12th of May, and find out why she has a great affection for the Swindon Museum and Art Gallery.

It was a fabulous day out, one we'll remember, thanks go to Eileen Cooper and Meryl Ainslie and lots of others behind the scenes who helped the day happen.

Nevison and Wallis lunchtime talk

The free lunch time talks at the museum held by Curator Sophie Cummings are becoming increasingly popular and enjoyable. I've suggested that they should be videoed for those who cannot attend because they are so good.
For those who haven't been to them, they are held at 12.30pm-1pm on certain days, specified on the website: http://swindonmuseumandartgallery.org.uk/events/category/talks/  
I like to take a photo of Sophie talking to the group during these talks, so here she is:

 The one held on 11 March focused firstly on Claude Muncaster first; Sophie  brought out one of his watercolours seen below to compare his treatment of the landscape in watercolour, with one in oils.

 Above is the watercolour by Claude Muncaster, and below 'Sussex Landscape' c 1947 purchased from the artist.

 Sophie then moved on to the magnificent landscape by Denis Wirth-Miller seen below, entitled 'Landscape' it was painted in 1956, and is fascinating to look at, what's intriguing is the small amount of sky in the painting compared to the other landscapes.

 And last but by no means least, CRW Nevinson's 'Welsh Hills'

 I thoroughly enjoyed the talk, and didn't ask about the Alfred Wallis, 'Ship Amid Tall Waves', but I do love it.

 The next lunchtime talks are as follows:

– The Swindon Collection of Modern British Art

Saturday, 2 April | 12.30 pm - 1.00 pm

Join our Curator for a FREE informal lunchtime introduction to our incredible collection of modern British art.  This interactive talk will highlight a selection of favourite works and artists on display and give you the chance to ask questions and learn more about Swindon Museum and Art Gallery. 12.30pm – 1.00pm in the Art Gallery.

FREE Lunchtime Talk – Introduction to Hide and Seek exhibition

Friday, 6 May | 12.30 pm - 1.00 pm

Join our Curator for a FREE informal lunchtime introduction to our exhibition, Hide and Seek. This interactive talk will highlight a selection of favourite works and artists on display and give you the chance to ask questions and learn more about the exhibition. 

 

FREE Lunchtime Talk – Introduction to Hide and Seek exhibition

Friday, 1 July | 12.30 pm - 1.00 pm

Join our Curator for a FREE informal lunchtime introduction to our exhibition, Hide and Seek. This interactive talk will highlight a selection of favourite works and artists on display and give you the chance to ask questions and learn more about the exhibition.

FREE Lunchtime Talk – Introduction to Hide and Seek exhibition

Friday, 19 August | 12.30 pm - 1.00 pm

Join our Curator for a FREE informal lunchtime introduction to our exhibition, Hide and Seek. This interactive talk will highlight a selection of favourite works and artists on display and give you the chance to ask questions and learn more about the exhibition.

Opening night of Swindon in 175 Images Exhibition

On the evening of Tuesday 8 March, we were very pleased to provide refreshments for the private view of the Swindon in 175 Images exhibition currently on show in the front two downstairs rooms. Many of the Friends of SM&AG had kindly donated towards the staging of this exhibition, so it was lovely to be able to invite them along to the private view.
This exhibition is a great way to celebrate the Swindon 175 celebrations going on all over the town this year, and appears on the 175 website if you click on the link.
I spent too much time handing out drinks and nibbles rather than taking photos, but here are a few.
I'll take more of the exhibition soon.

 There were lots of people at the launch.

And some fascinating photos, paintings and objects.
Ian Wilkins, a committee member was convinced there was a photo of his father who worked in Garrards!
Do try and have a look at this fascinating exhibition, and I'll take a few more photos soon.

Director Appointed for the Museum & Art Gallery Project

I've copied and pasted this press release which appeared on Thursday for anyone who hasn't yet seen it. The project to build a new museum and art gallery has become even more exciting.

10 March 2016

Posted by Kevin Burchall.

Appointment of director a major boost for Swindon Museum & Art Gallery project

Appointment of director a major boost for Swindon Museum & Art Gallery project Swindon’s drive to have a new Museum and Art Gallery in the town centre has been significantly boosted with the appointment of Hadrian Ellory-van Dekker, who is currently the Science Museum’s Head of Collections and Chief Curator, as Director of the Swindon Museum and Art Gallery Trust.
Hadrian, 47, will have responsibility for overseeing a fundraising strategy, and managing the design and build of the new museum and art gallery and its forward programme of exhibitions and activities.

Hadrian Ellory-van Dekker

The Swindon Museum and Art Gallery Trust was incorporated on October 29 2015 under the chairmanship of Robert Hiscox and run by a board of 5 locally-based trustees, including the Deputy Leader of the Council, Councillor Brian Mattock. It was registered as a Charity in February 2016.
The Trust is managing the Swindon Museum and Art Gallery project which has two key aims: to create a fitting home for Swindon’s museum and art collections, including the nationally significant collection of British 20th Century Modern Art, and use its location to boost regeneration of the economy and attractiveness of the town centre.
Swindon Borough Council has pledged £5m towards the project with the rest of the estimated £22.5m build cost being raised by the Trust from grants and donations.
Robert Hiscox said: “We are delighted to have attracted a Director of such calibre to lead our project to build a new museum and art gallery to be the heart of the new cultural quarter in Swindon.
“Hadrian has hugely valuable experience, recently at the acclaimed Science Museum, and his knowledge of art and science and his senior roles in museum management give great credibility to the venture.”
Cllr David Renard, Leader of Swindon Borough Council, said: “Delivering a new museum and art gallery is one of the Council’s pledges and forms an integral part of our plans to breathe new life into the town centre.
“Hadrian’s appointment will help us in our quest to deliver on that pledge and his expertise will be invaluable as we continue the bid process with the Heritage Lottery Fund.”
Hadrian Ellory-van Dekker, said: “I feel both honoured and privileged to be appointed the Trust’s first Director.
“This is an incredibly exciting and once-in-a-career opportunity to make a real difference: to build a new art gallery and museum; to maximize the potential of, and continue to develop, a really great collection; and, building on the successes of the past and working with local communities, to place the art gallery and museum and its activities at the very heart of the town and its cultural life.
“In my previous role at the Science Museum Group, I have often been a visitor to Swindon. I am really looking forward to working with the great people and wonderful collection here.”
In addition to his current role, which involves directing the output of curators, academics, scientists, librarians, archivists, content and collection professionals and other technical specialists to increase access to and relevance of the museums’ activity and collections, Hadrian has also worked at the British Museum, and was a visiting fellow at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and more latterly across the Science Museum Group of museums.
Externally, he has worked with a wide range of trustees, sponsors, donors, government departments, learned societies and other external museums and galleries, and is a Director of the Collections Trust and Chair of Arts Council England’s Accreditation Committee for museums and galleries across the United Kingdom.
Hadrian takes up his post in June.

.