This monographic exhibition
on the nineteenth-century artist, John Frederick Lewis (1804-1876), will
feature a wide variety of vivid and detailed paintings created by the artist
during his travels in Europe and the Middle East.
Throughout his career, Lewis travelled extensively. Early visits to Scotland were followed by time spent in Germany, Italy and Spain. After visiting Greece, Constantinople and Bursa, Lewis continued on towards
Egypt in 1841. This journey was a defining moment; it was Lewis’s move to the Islamic quarters of Cairo that significantly shaped both his creative practice and the artistic identity he projected throughout the rest of his career. This exhibition will examine Lewis’s continually evolving and experimental self-fashioning – both during his travels and back home in London – exploring the conflicts that exist between his varying personas, from leader of the art establishment to eccentric recluse.
Celebrated for his career as an official war artist
and commercially successful portraitist, Irish-born painter, Sir William Orpen
KBE RA (1878 – 1931), is known for his rapid and expressive painting style.
Orpen was, however, meticulous when rendering the human form. Featuring a
selection of striking portraits alongside closely observed pencil studies, this
exhibition will present a unique insight into Orpen’s artistic process,
challenging the perception that his technique was spontaneous and impulsive.
Inspired by the significance of the artist’s studio
to the Artists’ Village, this exhibition will illuminate Orpen’s artistic
practice through an exploration of ‘Oriel’, his London studio-home. Exhibiting,
for the first time, original studio materials alongside representations of the
studio, ‘Oriel’ will come alive in our temporary exhibition space to convey the
artist’s evolving and experimental treatment of light, space and materials.
Watts Contemporary Gallery will feature an
exhibition of works by the Royal Society of Portrait Painters from 10 January –
23 February. Sir William Orpen was President of the Royal Society of Portrait
Painters from 1924 – 1930.