ARTLOOK April 2021 Robert Indiana, Love, 1966-1998 at Fondation Pierre Gianadda Dear Art Friend Given the season and positive feelings engendered by the vaccine rollout, many of us are feeling cautiously hopeful for the coming year. Not that things will necessarily return to how they were, but life will get better. Your Art Friends Warwickshire committee is eager to understand how you feel about future talks and events so that we can plan a programme which interests you and helps raise funds for the future of art. To that end, we recently issued a survey to all members and supporters and if you have not yet responded, please do so by 7 April so that we can feature the results in our next issue. Whatever your feedback, be assured we would only plan in-person events when it is safe to do so. March saw our Inaugural General Meeting, a year later than anticipated, when our chairman, Brian Phillips, thanked members for their wholehearted support in getting Art Friends Warwickshire off the ground in such challenging circumstances. Details of our achievements, presented to the 55 attending, are in the report on Page 2, as well as the recipients of the Art Friends Warwickshire 2020 Awards. Following the excellent talk on Hogarth’s election paintings by Vivien Heffernan, in this issue we include a piece by member, Barrie Bemand, a volunteer at Upton House, in which he reviews the property’s three Hogarths and discusses the painter’s involvement in freemasonry. David Freke has sparked much interest in the graffiti to be discovered (often by raking torchlight) in North Cotswold churches. As soon as it is permitted, there will be many of us heading off to local villages to inspect the stonework and no doubt investigate the local pub for lunch. We are happy to feature the magnum opus of one of our members and highly regarded speaker, Margaret-Louise O’Keeffe, who devoted many years to researching As We Were: a week-by-week 1 account of the Great War in four volumes. Do follow the links to the reviews in The Times and Spectator – what an achievement. The Fondation Pierre Gianadda in Switzerland is a gem of a place and the translated article written by my friend of fifty-five years, Pierre Ançay, gives a flavour of the art it offers permanently and in exhibitions. Definitely a museum to visit. A new talk added to our schedule is Japanese Art in the Royal Collection, a talk I enjoyed last year and heartily recommend. It will be presented by one of the Royal Collection Trust’s assistant curators. In August we are planning a talk on mediaeval Warwickshire, presented by Dr Jenny Alexander of the University of Warwick. Date and venue/Zoom will depend on the progress of ‘unlocking’ so to be advised later. Diary Dates • Monday, 19 April, 10.30 via Zoom, Clara in Qatar. • Wednesday, 5 May, 10.30 via Zoom, Art in the Landscape • 9 June –sadly the owners of Perrycroft, near Malvern, an Arts-and-Crafts house designed by Voysey, have decided to remain closed until 2022, so a treat in store for next year. • Tuesday, 15 June, 10.30 via Zoom, Japanese Art in the Royal Collection Contributions As ever, please let us have your articles on a piece of art that you hold special or an art holiday which you particularly enjoyed. The next issue of ARTLOOK will appear in mid-May and we would require copy by the beginning of the month. Dianne Page, Editor [email protected] Art Friends Warwickshire Committee: Brian Phillips, Chairman, Gill Ashley-Smith, Sandra Clowes, Alex Corrin, Dianne Page, Susan Yeomans Art Friends Warwickshire Inaugural General Meeting On 24 March, Chairman, Brian Phillips, welcomed members and recalled that Art Friends Warwickshire emerged from the former Art Fund Volunteers, disbanded in 2019, following encouragement to continue activities which would provide informative, fund-raising talks and visits for those interested in the world of art. Most members of the Art Fund Committee transferred to the new independent group and were joined by Alex Corrin. In time, the Awards Committee was formed, comprising Faith Matthews and David Howells, to advise the committee where grants should be presented. Art Friends Warwickshire was launched in January 2020 with a programme of events that achieved a fantastic response and, thanks to members’ subscriptions, we were able to get under way. Brian continued: “We got off to a good start with an excellent talk at Budbrooke from the curator at the Fitzwilliam Museum and Art Gallery, Cambridge, Feast and Fast, then our regular visit to Princethorpe College for Vivien Heffernan's talk on Women Painters from the 16th to the 20th Century. We were pleased to donate the surpluses from these events: to the Fitzwilliam in order to support student attendance at a linked conference; and to Princethorpe College we donated the Bauhaus Trophy, an annual award for students showing particular promise in the aesthetics of design. We are so grateful to the college for allowing us to use their excellent facilities free of charge. “Then the pandemic struck, forcing the cancellation, at practically no notice, of the first attempt of an inaugural general meeting of Art Friends Warwickshire. Gradually items on our well-planned schedule of events were cancelled: a trip to Cambridge, talks on Cézanne and Art in the Landscape, the summer holiday and the visit to Strawberry Hill. A lot of work from all on the committee gone to waste. Even 2 more, there was the effort to return people's money and we are most grateful to those who waived their refunds as a donation. Particular sympathy goes to Gill Ashley-Smith, organiser of the popular summer holidays for several years. She had done the preparation, which takes the best part of a year, for the 2020 holiday, only to endure the additional labour of cancelling all the arrangements. “Out of this misery rose the Newsletter, our first miracle of 2020, which has become ARTLOOK, brilliantly edited by Dianne Page and supported by many members who have contributed articles. The frequency increased to six-weekly; this was the only way, under lockdown conditions that we could maintain our objective of a social grouping of people interested in the arts. “In August we carried out a survey of members' views and thanks to the large number of you who responded, we learnt that although many would support in person events when safe and permitted, many would also be interested in receiving on-line talks at home. “And so, we launched a series of talks by Zoom, beginning with one on Cranach by the curator of the exhibition at Compton Verney, which was open for so short a time. This was followed by The Art of Persia ahead of a V&A exhibition. The series continued with an intriguing talk on Paul Cézanne by leading expert, Dr Paul Smith; by Vivien Heffernan on William Hogarth and by David Freke on Medieval Graffiti in North Cotswolds Churches. “This was our second unexpected miracle. We have been overwhelmed by the response, being encouraged to raise the limit of 50, which we thought was manageable, to over 70. I make special mention of the part played by Sue Yeomans who not only carried out the tricky process of admitting everyone in such a short space of time – without losing anyone, but also handled the bookings. These lectures have achieved two of Art Friends Warwickshire's objectives, social gatherings, albeit virtual, and raising funds. And after each talk, we always receive a raft of emails expressing your appreciation. Thanks to everyone who has participated for your support. “During 2020 we have been involved in the development of a website. We engaged a professional designer but in the summer his business collapsed leaving us with a product, half of which worked. Eventually, and with some adjustments, we have been able to use it for these last few months, including the distribution of ARTLOOK and receiving membership applications. “Being an organisation independent of a parental body puts greater demands on several aspects, particularly financial management. Sue Yeomans has been supreme in handling a colossal number of applications and re-payments. Our books have been audited by member and chartered accountant, Paul Preston (our special thanks to him), and declared to be satisfactory. After reviewing our financial situation, we have arrived at a budget for 2021, which includes offering free membership to those who joined last year. We have also been able to allocate £3,000 to be awarded to deserving causes. Recommendations this year are Art in Dunchurch and Artie: • Art in Dunchurch, participating in Warwickshire Arts Week 19 June – 4 July, would like help to meet its advertising and publicity costs as Warwickshire Open Studios has decided to produce an on-line brochure only. • Artie – part of Healing Arts which is designed to make the hospital environment welcoming and interesting. Artie is an Art Cart full of free creative arts and craft packs for in-patients of all ages covering UHCW and St Cross. “So, what is in our programme for 2021? While the lockdown persists, there will be our monthly lectures by Zoom. What else we do, will be guided by the replies to the survey we have launched recently. We have had a good response already but need your view too. Please respond and provide your comments before the 7 April deadline. Unfortunately, again there cannot be a summer holiday this year, but we live in hope of having a visit or two. Rest assured, you will be informed as soon as we can organise something.