Watts Gallery
Unique Artworks from Boris Johnson MP and others to be auctioned for charity
Unique Artworks
The Watts Contemporary Gallery at the Artists' Village in Compton, Surrey will host a very special Love and Life exhibition until October 17 and CharityStars will be supporting the exhibition with an online auction.Among the works of art on show are pieces from the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson MP and many more. Artworks have been donated and created by a wide variety of artists and celebrities including Sir Peter Blake, Yinka Shonibare MBE, Joanna Lumley OBE, Felicity Kendal CBE and many others. The artworks will then be auctioned for charity on October 17, but bids can be placed ahead of this date at http://www.charitystars.com/.
The auction is being supported by a variety of Royal Academicians and other leading artists. Artist to the stars Sherree Valentine Daines will also contribute a piece of art to the auction. The work will be inspired by the Artists¹ Village and once complete, it will be entered into the Love and Life auction.
Money raised will go to the Watts Gallery Trust and Transplant Links Community (TLC). TLC is a UK registered charity that saves the lives of children and adults in the developing world who suffer from fatal kidney disease. Established by a group of British doctors, they offer teaching and advice, as well as carry out living kidney transplants, and help local medical teams in a variety of countries.
A selection of the art that will be auctioned:
Arlene Phillips CBE: Drawing, Love & Life Boris Johnson MP: Drawing, Toot Toot! John and Kate Siebert: Artists’ proof, Illustration for Louis Aragon’s work “One who says things without saying anything”, by Marc Chagall, artist John and Kate Siebert: Limited edition lithograph, L’inspire, by Marc Chagall, artist The Belgravia Gallery: Lithograph, Girl on Gold, by Charles Mackesey, artist Sir Peter Blake: Carpet design, Carpet square from the Supreme Court Vanessa Raw, triathlete: Painting, New Dawn Dame Zaha Hadid, architect: Metal etching, Middle East Centre, St Antony¹s College Oxford
Perdita Hunt Director of Watts Gallery Artists’ Village said: “G F Watts supported over 38 charitable causes and was a real philanthropist. It is exciting that Watts Gallery Trust is partnering with TLC, which saves lives through transplants, to mount an exhibition of generously donated works and to auction these in support of art for all and saving lives. We are delighted that the founder of TLC, has been one of the most successful artists-in-residence at Watts Gallery – Artists’ Village.”
Dr Jennie Jewitt Harris, Chief Executive of TLC and current Artist-in-Residence at Watts said: “This is an exciting venture which combines the love of art with the chance to save lives. Funds raised will support our medical work in Zambia, Ghana, Trinidad and Jamaica; where there is a desperate need to help people with kidney failure. The artworks donated are so varied and we’ve been bowled over by the kind contributions, of artists and celebrities.”
Peter Monkman, artist and donor of a work said: “It was a real privilege to be invited to contribute to the Transplant Links and Watts charity auction, knowing the power of the visual arts in the context of the Watts Gallery Artists’ Village to enlighten and improve the quality of life. I produced a painting especially where the child reaching up represents a sense of transformation, hope and reaching out.”
Online bidding please visit: www.charitystars.com The auctions close on Saturday October 17 2015.
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Prints for the People
02/07/15 16:15 Filed in: Art
25 July – 4 October The Pottery Building, Watts Gallery - Continuing the Watts Contemporary Programme - Art for all at affordable prices
Watts Gallery Trust, in partnership with Gwen Hughes Fine Art, presents Prints for the People, an exhibition of 20th Century lithographs, including the popular School Prints scheme produced in the 1930s and 40s, for sale at affordable prices.
With the admirable aim of making good art accessible to everyone, several series of prints were published in Britain in the late 1930s-1940s. From the Contemporary Lithographs series (1937-38) to The School Prints (from 1946), the Lyons Tea Shop Lithographs (1947-55) and the Coronation Series (1953), all were designed to celebrate the best of British talent and the leading British artists of the day were commissioned – including Julian Trevelyan, Barbara Jones and Edward Ardizzone.
As well as the improving socialist principles which drove these series, they arose for pragmatic reasons. Post-war Britain was drab, and paint unavailable. Colourful lithographs covered up walls in need of refurbishment in schools and cafes, and provided cheerful distractions from the run-down surroundings. Cleverly, the lithographs in the Lyons tea-shops were also available for sale to the general public “at a price within reach of the slenderest purse”. The canny publishers of the School Prints directed the artists to incorporate frames into their images, to save schools the added expense of having to get the prints framed.
Although most of the lithographs were produced in large editions (often more than 2000), post-War austerity which restricted the quality of the printing paper, and the fact that they were tacked to walls in busy places, meant that remarkably few copies have survived.
Highlights of Prints for the People will include Julian Trevelyan, Thames Regatta (School Prints, 1951), Raoul Dufy, The Band (School Prints, 1951) and Vincent Lines, Skating, (Contemporary Lithographs, 1938). All works are for sale and prices start from £75 (unframed), with most prints under £1000.
Commenting Watts Gallery Trust Director, Perdita Hunt observes: “The laudable campaign to give colour and inspiration to wartime and post-War Britain in the 30s and 40 through the production of lithographs of work by leading artists chimes immediately with the Watts Art for All ambition to take art to deprived communities in London at the end of the 19th Century.” “This exhibition of Prints for the People, part of the Watts Contemporary programme, offering good art by the best of British artists at affordable prices, gives visitors to Watts Gallery – Artists’ Village a complementary experience of 20th Century art.” “There is also the opportunity to purchase work at affordable prices, which, through its sale, will benefit Watts Gallery Trust’s Art for All programme involving young people, excluded groups, schools and life-long learners.”
Commenting Gwen Hughes says: “I am delighted to be putting on Prints for the People with the Watts Gallery this summer. It is wonderful to be part of the Gallery’s exciting programme of activities, and I hope this collaboration will introduce these fascinating prints and their story to a new audience.”
1. Barbara Jones, The Fairground (1946), School Prints, Series 1
2. Edward Ardizzone, The Wreck (1951), School Prints, Festival of Britain series
3. Raoul Dufy, The Band (1949), School Prints, Third (European) Series
4. Kenneth Rowntree, Tractor (1946), School Prints, Series 1
5. Julian Trevelyan, Thames Regatta (1951), School prints, Series 4
6. Vincent Lines, Skating (1938), Contemporary Lithographs
7. Henry Moore, Sculptural Objects (1951), School Prints third (European) Series
8. Ruskin Spear, The Piano Lesson (1945), CEMA lithograph
9. Edwin Ladell, Fishing at Marlow (1951), Lyons Lithographs, Series 2
10. Ceri Richards, East End Celebrations – Costers Dancing (1953), Royal College of Art Coronation Series
www.wattsgallery.org.uk or Telephone 01483 810235
Treat your mother at Watts Gallery
27/02/15 11:33 Filed in: What's On
Treat your mother at Watts Gallery, an Artists’ Village – Sunday 15 March
Visit Watts Gallery this Mother’s Day and see the sumptuous new exhibition, Liberating Fashion: Aesthetic Dress in Victorian Portraits, featuring exquisite portraits by G F Watts, Frederic Leighton, Edward Burne-Jones, Lawrence Alma-Tadema, James Tissot and many more.
Treat your mother to a delicious cream tea with freshly made scones and local clotted cream and jam or chose from a wide selection of cakes and hot food in the Watts Gallery Tea Shop, rated 4 out of 5 stars on Trip Advisor.
All mothers can also enjoy 10% off in the Shop on Mothering Sunday. Chose from a range of unique gifts and exclusive Watts Gallery products.
Address: Watts Gallery, Down Lane, Compton, Guildford, Surrey, GU3 1DQ
Telephone: 01483 810 235
Email: info@wattsgallery.org.uk
Watts Gallery is a company limited by guarantee (company number 6147572) Registered office as above. Registered Charity Number: 313612 VAT Reg. No. 924 8349 02