Galleries - December 2014

DECEMBER 2014 GALLERIES 25 A 4 2 3 A 3 6 1 A 4 6 A 3 8 A 4 6 A 3 4 A 4 9 A 4 4 2 5 A 4 1 0 3 A 4 7 A 4 1 A38 M 5 M 6 M 4 0 M 1 M 5 0 M54 M42 6 Shropshire Herefordshire Wor stershire ce Warwickshire dshire S ff ta or SHIPSTON ON STOUR BANBURY LEAMINGTON SPA DAVENTRY WARWICK HENLEY IN ARDEN BROADWAY WINCHCOMBE HEREFORD BISHOPS FROME LEOMINSTER LUDLOW MUCH WENLOCK BRIDGNORTH WOLVERHAMPTON KIDDERMINSTER WALSALL WORCESTER TEWKESBURY SHREWSBURY BURTON UPON TRENT TELFORD FORD KINGSWINFORD ASTON NORTH CLAINES STOURBRIDGE LO CASTLE DONINGTON KINETON LICHFIELD WELSHPOOL BIRMINGHAM COVENTRY LEICESTE a b c MAP 7 ENGLAND MIDLANDS SHROPSHIRE a TWENTY TWENTY GALLERY 3-4 High Street, Much Wenlock, Shropshire TF13 6AA Winter Exhibition 2014. Until end of January. Featuring Andrew Fusek Peters – poet, writer and photographer. Plus Sue Campion and gallery artists. Also online Christmas shop for great unique art kits. Mon–Sat 10–5 t 01952 727952 info@twenty-twenty.co.uk www.twenty-twenty.co.uk a WENLOCK FINE ART 3 The Square, Much Wenlock, Shropshire TF13 6LX Late 19th, 20th and 21st Century British Paintings. Mon–Sat 10–5 or by appt t 01952 728232 www.wenlockfineart.co.uk WARWICKSHIRE b COMPTON VERNEY Warwickshire, CV35 9HZ Art from Ammunition: Trench Art from the First World War. Until Dec 14. Includes decorated shell cases, carved sections of a propeller, rifle cartridges and embroidered flour sacks from the USA to occupied Belgium. British Folk Art. Until Dec 14. Over 150 paintings, sculptures, textiles and objects in celebration of folk art in the UK. Tue–Sun & BHols 11–5 t 01926 645500 info@comptonverney.org.uk www.comptonverney.org.uk c LEAMINGTON SPA ART GALLERY & MUSEUM The Royal PumpRooms, The Parade, Royal Leamington Spa CV32 4AA In My Craft or Sullen Art: Prints, Paintings and Drawings – Tessa Beaver. Nov 29–Feb 22. Tessa Beaver is a printmaker and painter – now in her 83rd year Beaver continues to paint, draw, write and pursue artistic research from her long established studio in Leamington Spa. This exhibition, curated by Simon Kirby, includes a range of works from the mid-1960s to the present day. Tue–Sat 10.30–5, Sun 11–4, Mon closed (except BHols) admn free t 01926 742700 prooms@warwickdc.gov.uk www.warwickdc.gov.uk/royalpumprooms Goodbye, Old Man. Matania’s Vision of the First World War by Lucinda Gosling. 144pp, 100+ ills. The History Press, pbk £9.99 It’s easy in this multi- platform era to underestimate the enormous distribution and impact of illustrated papers such as The Sphere, The Graphic and The Illustrated London News in the early 20th C. This compilation of the work of the doyen of ‘special artists’ is a reminder of their vast popularity and provides in this anniversary year a contrasting approach to depicting the Great War from the Nevinsons Spencers and Nashes. Naples-born Fortunino Matania grew up in his father’s commercial art studio, moved to England and became the leading illustrator of the period, contributing prolifically to The Sphere and many other publications from before the First War until after the Second, covering a huge spread of subjects. A precocious and talented draughtsman with a meticulous grasp of detail and thirst for authenticity, he’d served in the Italian army pre- war. He visited the front, coming under fire to gather information and interviewing participants for accuracy. The results, in his strong realist style often surpassed photography, given its still cumbersome technical issues. Despite wide popular recognition at the time – it’s said he was more familiar than the Impressionists – Matania is now virtually unknown, and of course at the ‘wrong end’ of the art versus illustration debate. His work was not ground-breaking in the artistic sense but it does provide an unrivalled graphic and cultural take on the War, of much interest not least to historians. The illustrations in this compact volume have extended captions to provide context, plus a useful opening essay. AA BOOK reviews Fortunino Matania ‘In a British Advanced Observation Post’(WW1) signed limited edition print, image courtesy I llustration Art Gallery. A range of his work is for sale from them