Jan s choice - a painting by Titian (c ) in a monastery in Dubrovnik - sparked off a debate on renovation and restoration.

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1 SEPTEMBER MEETING - this was the first meeting of the new year and we brought along either a painting we had just discovered or details of an exhibition we had been to. Glennis started us off in style with two exhibitions! Her first was the Albert Irvin exhibition which is on at the Millfield Atkinson Gallery (2 September to 19 October). Irvin, 91, is a screen printer known for his bold and vibrant style. (Millfield School in Street also boasts a wonderful sculpture park which is free to visit. For a guide to the park go to or pick up a map at the gallery reception desk) Glennis had also visited the Life and Death Pompeii and Herculaneum Exhibition at the British Museum (28 March to 29 September). This fresco was found in the House of the Golden Bracelet in Pompeii. The Garden Room of the house has been transported from Italy and reconstructed under the dome of the Great Reading Room. Brian is investigating 20th century art at Stourhead for the National Trust. He told us of Théophile Alexandre Steilen ( ) a contemporary of Toulouse-Lautrec, who belonged to the Black Cat Set and who was a great favourite of Alda Hoare, a former owner of Stourhead, who purchased many of his black cat prints at 16 guineas each - they now sell for around 300,000! Wendy had recently bought a book of oil sketches catalogued by John and Charlotte Gere and was very taken by A Boat-Builder s Yard by Francis Danby ( ) an Irish painter who initially developed his imaginative style while he was the central figure in a group of artists who have come be to be known as the Bristol School. The oil on paper sketch (12.2 x 18.5cm) painted c1840, is on long term loan to the National Gallery but unfortunately not on display!

2 Jan s choice - a painting by Titian (c ) in a monastery in Dubrovnik - sparked off a debate on renovation and restoration. Jan also told us of a sculpture park near Tincleton in Dorset. Sculpture by the Lakes is open every day of the year but booking is essential on Pam had visited the art gallery in Falmouth where she was impressed by Charles Napier Hemy ( ) and John Opie. The latter ( ) was a travelling portrait painter who lived to paint while others paint to live. This lovely portrait is entitled Beggar Boy oil on canvas 91.4 x 71.1cm. Another favourite of Pam s is this triptych of three women collecting brine for salt by Utagawa Kuniyoshi ( ). It is a woodblock print, 37.1x25.5cm, from the Arthur Miller collection shown in the RA exhibition of Jenny showed us many examples of Thomas Bewick s wood engravings. The artist who lived from , carved box woodblocks for advertising and children s books. He was an early campaigner for fair treatment of animals and later, children. This woodcut The Runaway Cart is only 8cms wide.

3 Andrea saw this portrait of Mr and Mrs George Byam and their daughter, Selina, in the Holburne Museum in Bath. It was painted by Thomas Gainsborough ( ) between 1762 and The painting is oil on canvas 244 x 235 cms and shows the husband and wife in a parklands landscape. The little girl was apparently added to the painting later. In contrast, Barbara chose a painting she was hoping to discover! The Drover s Wife painted by Russell Drysdale in 1945, is one of the exhibits of Australian art to be shown at the RA 21 Sep - 8 Dec. Colonists arriving in Australia found nothingness which affected their art. This painting, oil on canvas, 51.5 x 61.5cm, is part of the National Gallery of Australia s collection housed in Canberra. Denise was looking for something else and discovered this painting by Suzanne Valadon ( ). The painting, oil on canvas, was painted in 1922 and titled View from my window in Genets, Brittany and is in a private collection. Valadon modelled for Toulouse-Lautrec, Renoir and Chavannes and later became a painter herself. Her fame was, however, eclipsed by that of her son, Maurice Utrillo. Val had recently been on holiday in Devon and visited the studio of Janice Walton at Bigbury on Sea. Janice spends part of each year in South Africa and has developed a Wildlife portfolio. Her unique style, developed over the years, is rich in atmosphere merging imagination with reality. This painting, oil on block canvas 76 x 76cms, is called Burgh Island Reflections Nancy didn t have a painting to discuss as she had been too busy getting married!

4 OCTOBER MEETING - this was autumnal or harvest paintings. Wendy started off with Camille Pisarro and his 1888 work Apple Picking. He had been experimenting with different painting techniques, especially pointillism which made a lively texture. He painted many pictures in his own orchard. Glennis choice was Van Gogh s Summer Evening Wheatfield with setting sun one of 10 works painted in one week during harvest time in Arles. These paintings often included some buildings to mark the contrast between the country and the town. Margot showed three examples of paintings of the Wittenham Clumps by Paul Nash These clumps on Castle Hill, Oxfordshire, were a recurring subject with Nash who painted them all his life, He thought them atmospheric and mystical.. the pyramids of my small world. The example shown here is Sunflower & Sun painted in Jenny treated us to a feast of Peter De Wint, born in Staffordshire, whose grandparents were Dutch. He spent most of his life in Lincolnshire but travelled widely and was friends with Constable and Turner, also the poets Keats and Clare. Best known for his pictures of harvesting and inland waterways, he was interested in the political aspects of country life - enclosures act, farmworker s conditions etc. This oil on board painting c1810, is entitled Children at lunch by a Corn Stook.

5 NOVEMBER MEETING - Cityscapes before 1900 Denise missed the October meeting so started us off with her autumnal picture by Leonid Afremov, a Belarusian born in 1955 who now lives in Mexico. Stream of Autumn Margaret s choice of cityscape artist was William Blake ( ) who was born in Soho and after drawing school at the age of 10, was apprenticed to an engraver. He led a very full life and is as well known for his poetry as his paintings. Blake s House in Soho Square Nancy fascinated us with her story of the Sharples, a Quaker family who travelled from this country to America and back several times and who were all excellent artists. The daughter, Rolinda ( ) painted scenes of Bristol, their home town, as souvenirs for tourists. After Rolinda and her brother died, their mother Ellen founded the Royal West of England Academy in Bristol with the proceeds of their life work. The Stoppage of the Bank

6 Jenny stayed with Peter De Wint ( ) and his lovely less is more painting of Westminster. She compared this with a similar scene by David Cox ( ) which is much more detailed. Andrea told us of the James Whistler ( ) exhibition at Dulwich gallery which is on display until January. His gloomy oil sketches provoked a nostalgic exchange on the London smogs of the 60s! Jan had a variety of paintings which included this scene by Caneletto ( ) of London: the Thames on Lord Mayor s Day. Looks vaguely familiar - wasn t there something similar happening in 2012? More Bristol artists came from Wendy who introduced us to T L Rowbotham ( ) who sketched panoramas of the city and whose work is in the Braikenridge collection. This is a depiction of what the Clifton Suspension Bridge would look like when finished - at an estimated cost of 57,000!