Mark Golder in Conversation with Patricia Volk and Mary-Jane Evans

Last Tuesday there was the second of the 'in conversation' events in the gallery with two of the ceramicists taking part in the exhibition From Where I'm Standing: Contemporary Ceramics and the Swindon Collection. Ten ceramicists have spent the last year produced new ceramic work influenced by their selection of one or two pieces from the collection.

Patricia Volk took Howard Hodgkin's 'Gramophone' and John Nash's 'Buoys' as her inspiration for her pieces which is several pieces arranged together, seen below:

and Mary-Jane Evans took Charles Howard's 'Painting 1'as her piece, and produced 4 curved shapes  with twisted metal woven into their fabric:

 In 2015, Mark Golder and Brian Thompson gifted more than 50 ceramics to Swindon Museum and Art Gallery in memory of their friend, Ron Sloman. He has works by both Particia and Mary-Jane so it worked really well for him to encourage them to talk about their work.

Here they are before starting the evening:

Mark had prepared a series of slides in chronological order, so the artists were able to talk about the development of their practice. Patricia started and talked about her obsession with heads, you might be able to see this group arranged around a tree in Hannah Peschar sculpture garden.

A place which looks well worth visiting when it opens again next spring.

Patricia has now moved away from making heads and now produces large rounded structures.
Mary-Jane took us on her personal journey of producing ceramics as a driving force in her life once she discovered it. The first piece she ever sold was to Mark Golder at The Black Swan Gallery in Frome, and you can see a poor photo of the bowl 'Blue Pool' below

The audience asked questions and then each artist went and talked about the fine details of their piece

above Patricia and below Mary-Jane

It was a really splendid evening, many thanks for Mark Golder for making the evening so entertaining and to Mary-Jane and Patricia for such fascinating insights into their work.

May Talk: Chippenham Museum's Collection of Prints

 We were very pleased to welcome back Mark Golder to talk about his work with Chippenham Museum and the Golder-Thomson Gift of prints spanning the twentieth century to the museum. Many posts appear on this blog if you look up Mark Golder, this one for instance which gives some perspective on Mark, a far better insight into their philanthropy can be gained from the Pallant House Gallery website.

Mark began by comparing the populations of Swindon and Chippenham to give an idea of the size of the place. Swindon's population is 222,000 and Chippenham's 36,000. Chippenham has a small museum and has now been given room to expand, it is run by 4 staff and volunteers. Sarah Purvey, Calne based ceramicist played a significant part in developing the modern and contemporary art collection, introduced Mark and his partner Brian to Chippenham Museum. Two books have been produced with works acquired with a forward by Jo Baring Director of the Ingram Collection who talks about 'the visionary work being done at Chippenham Museum' The books are £5 each and when you visit Chippenham Museum, well worth buying.

Mark and Brian also produced a book entitled 'A Century in Print 1920-2020 The Golder-Thompson Gift'. The gift is in memory of Arthur Norman, manager of the Sue Ryder shop in Chippenham before moving to Eastern Europe. The collection is in 3 parts, designed to look at Wiltshire printmaking, there were 3 exhibitions showcasing works in the three eras. There were 60 prints donated in all, part funded by the local arts society; 16 from 1920-30, 25 from the 1940-80s and 19 from 2000-2020.

Robin Tanner etcher and educationalist was a teacher, loved Chippenham; his etchings give vivid evocations of life a hundred years ago. His Harvest Festival, Wiltshire Roadmaker and Gamekeeper's Cottage etchings are great examples of his work. Below the Roadmaker who has one of the most back breaking jobs. 

Moving onto the 1940s many of the artists in this section attended Bath Academy of Art at Corsham Court moved from Bath during the second world war.

Rosemary and Clifford Ellis attended and created poster like the one below of Teignmouth for Lyons tearooms

Few women got involved at Corsham Court, although Gillian Ayres produced silk squares, one in this collection and the other is in the Tate Collection. 

In the third section bringing us up to the present day, there are many names becoming more and more recognised. I visited this exhibition and took a photos of these works:

Above and below works by Sarah Purvey, particularly love the ceramic piece above, Friends bought one several years ago for the SC.

Above a commission by Jo Taylor for ITV

Above a mezzotint engraving of a Peppered Moth by Sarah Gillespie RWA

Above Emma Stibbon RA Night Sea Ice

Above Celia Cook, Variant 22 a woodcut, and finally the piece below is a new acquisition at Chippenham Museum, it's 'Large Platter with Doves' by James Tower, purchased with support from ACE/ V&A Purchase Grant Fund and Art Fund.

Thank you once again Mark for the inspirational talk, and do please visit Chippenham Museum.

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.

May Talk by Mark Golder on Stephen Russ

 We were very pleased to welcome back Mark Golder who has given many excellent talks to the Friends in the past and supported us in many ways. This was a fascinating talk shining a light on Stephen Russ and the importance of book cover art. Here's the illustration used for the talk:

'The Illustrator, Stephen Russ'

by Mark Golder

Stephen Russ lived at Shaw Hill near Melksham and taught fabric design and then printmaking for thirty years at Bath Academy of Art (Corsham); but he is better known in the world of illustration as the designer of dust jackets for over eighty books between 1945 and 1975, and as the designer of covers for the Penguin Poetry series in the 1950s and 1960s. He also produced a generic cover for Penguin's D. H. Lawrence novels, and it was his design of a phoenix rising from the flames on the front cover of 'Lady Chatterley's Lover' when Penguin was taken to court for obscenity. This illustrated talk will concentrate on the dust jackets and cover illustrations, considering how they reveal the artist and the major concerns of the times in which he lived.

Here are some photos taken at the talk:

It's difficult to take good photos in the Council Chamber at the Civic Offices but I think you get a good feeling of the atmosphere by not cropping the photos.

Trip to Pallant House Gallery

I love Pallant House Gallery and when planning our trips programme for 2016, it was one of the places I was keen to visit with the Friends. The fact there was going to be a Christopher Wood exhibition from 2 July-2 October gave us the perfect reason to visit, you will remember we have 'Still Life with Boats, St.Ives' by him in our Collection:

 The journey to Chichester was easily accomplished, and our walk through the Bishop's Palace Gardens to the Pallant House was wonderful with everything flowering in glorious splendour. We were welcomed by gallery staff and Mark Golder who gave us a background talk on the Pallant, and then had lunch in the courtyard of the cafe before our talk on the Christopher Wood exhibition at 2pm. Laura Ford is exhibiting two versions of  'Espaliered Woman' in the courtyard

 And here we are below in the first room of the Christopher Wood exhibition, with Michaela Cranmer explaining the various influences on Christopher Wood and examples of his various painting styles under these influences. Photography of paintings isn't allowed, but you can see on the right hand side rear wall, an example of Van Gogh's influence in a painting of blue irises.

 You can just about see the self portrait on the back wall here, he painted this in 1927, the Harlequin pattern makes a direct reference to the theatre and apparently shows Wood promoting himself as an artist.

 Here we are again, this time beside the large painting of a woman depicted very plainly.

 In the final room, we see some of the 40 paintings he did before his untimely death at the age of 29 in 1930, at Salisbury station.
 This talk was followed by a talk by collector and donor Mark Golder's exhibition of Contemporary Abstract Prints: The Golder - Thompson Gift in Room 17. Mark talked about his favourite prints in the room, followed by Brian Thompson talking about his, and their reasons for liking them so much. This was a real treat, and insight into 'What's good about this'.
As always there was lots more to see, so before leaving, I made sure I took a photo of the Lothar Gotz: Composition for a Staircase. Reading what he says about working on the staircase mural he says 'With site specific commissions, there is always a brief, which I try to ignore if possible..'

 There's also The Bishop Otter Art Collection: A Celebration exhibition in other rooms.
And the permanent collection which includes furniture as well as paintings:

 Below is a Shell Vase, made in 1958 by James Tower beautifully displayed on a piece of furniture.

 I didn't manage to see the Friedrich Nagler exhibition in the De'Longhi Print Room.

The bookshop was fabulous as always.

 And here's one last view of the Queen Anne part of Pallant House Gallery, shortage of space there was solved 10 years ago by building an extension, also in brick. A wonderful day out.

Talks 2025

 Talks are now being organised by Carl Gomez who is also managing the membership.

The list of talks for 2025 is almost complete., they will be held  at 7.30pm in the Council Chamber,  Full details of all talk will appear on the website when we have them.

Jan 30th - Dr Keith Parsons on The Glasgow Boys

The Glasgow Boys were a group of Scottish based artists who made a big splash in the art world of the 1880s with their challenge to the art establishment and adoption of the new “realistic” style. This talk will explore who they were, who they were influenced by, and their impact on Scottish art. The talk will be illustrated with examples of some of their works, together with their influences, put in the context of the art world of their time. We will finish with information on where you can see their works displayed today.

 

Dr Keith Parsons is a retired research scientist with an interest in both history and art. He currently serves as Secretary of Chiseldon Local History Group and is active in Swindon U3A.

The painting Is 'Pastures New' by James Guthrie

27th Feb - Mike Allen on the Cerne Abbas Giant

27th Mar - Ann Rachel Harwood on Antarctic Explorer Edward Adrian Wilson

24th Apr- Seriously ...- Miles Franklin and Claire Parsons

29th May - Mark Golder on the artist Stephen Russ

26th June - Michael Gray on the history of Tarot Card art

31st July - Gavin Jones on the art of Tattooing 

28th Aug - Kirsty Hartsiotis on Stained glass in the Arts and Craft movement

Sep 25th tbc

30th Oct tbc

27th Nov - Phillip Garrahan on Swindon Art in the Age of Steam 

'Seriously ...' FMAS Choices and the Process

 I am really pleased to let you know about an exhibition opening on Tuesday 25 February, of works chosen by members of the Friends of Museum and Art Swindon which will be displayed in the small gallery where an exhibition of Wessex Landscapes was shown alongside the Hardy exhibition. Those involved will be giving a talk to the Friends on Thursday 24 April so I don't want to give away too much of the process by which items were selected, or talk too much about the works selected because it will be good for most of it to be a surprise. 

The first call outs via email went out to the Friends in August 2024 asking for volunteers to get involved in selecting artworks and ceramics from the collection. There were six of us initially involved and then this whittled down to a regular three of us meeting Katie Ackrill, Collections and Exhibitions Officer to suggest works and then vote on them. This was a fascinating process which went on seemingly for weeks as we kept meeting and trying to reach a consensus and respect differences in taste without getting too personal. We learnt a lot about the collections and to appreciate works we had never really looked at properly. 

A couple of weeks ago, we were invited by Katie for a day to help hang the exhibition, what a fabulous opportunity! Naturally I took a few photos to remind us of the day and share with others. I'll start with a serious shot of three of the main selectors: from the left Miles Franklin, Claire Parsons and me, Linda Kasmaty. Although Claire was wearing a gorgeous red coat, we decided that black and white looked good.

                 

I'll now add a few of the hanging day photos:

Some paintings had the correct fixings for the hanging system, others didn't

Some of you will recognise Andrew Cross Chair of the Friends who joined us to help on the day

In the background you'll see John Wood, Collections and Exhibitions Manager, as well as Katie Ackrill

It was a real treat to be able to see the reverse side of paintings

Miles and Andrew in action

and looking at 'Monument'

This is the reverse side of the Bomberg

above more fitting fixing

Above one of my favourite ceramic pieces some of you may remember on display at Apsley House. It is made by Laurance Simon and one of 50 ceramics gifted by Mark Golder and Brian Thomson in 2015 in memory of Ron Sloman . There was much discussion about this piece.

It takes four people to hang a painting!!

Appreciating the work once it's on the wall

'Jerusalem' by David Bomberg was chosen by John Walsh, a long standing member of the Friends who played a large role in the committee at one time. The frame was really heavy.

We also described, said what we liked about 3 works on another day. Katie will edit what we have said down to 5minutes I think and it will appear on Bloomberg Connects. Also look out for descriptions of works by those who chose them which will appear beside the works, possibly.

More on this exhibition in the next blog post.