- Venue
- Lemon Street Gallery
- Location
- South West England
This unusual collection of paintings has arrived in Cornwall from the grey neo-classicism of Edinburgh College of Art. The latter having laid claim to being the oldest drawing academy in the UK dating back to the 1760s. It has indeed brought some interesting gems from Scotland to Truro. Perhaps the most enchanting piece is the large (61×152.5 cm) oil on canvas, ‘Still life with Shells’ by Dame Elizabeth Blackadder. Such a beach scene being not unfamiliar here in Cornwall. However, this collection of coloured and bejewelled flotsam has an attractive and pellucid quality that keeps you gazing at the canvas. This is reinforced by the composition on a muted background of muted slate and blue. The work also is used as the cover for the useful catalogue written by Dr Bill Hare of The University of Edinburgh. My personal favourite, however is the lively and honest ‘Self portrait with Glasses’ by Eve Thompson.She has also produced here a lovely watercolour of Australian Plants. This has a vulnerable and yet assertive quality about it- and feels very in the moment despite having been painted in 1977. There is perhaps, some latent quality in the Scottish light which strikes echoes or resonances for those of us accustomed to West Penwith. Gwen Hardie’s ‘Nude in Sunlight’ has something of this lyrical and generous feel about it. Among other interesting pictures are those of Reinhard Behrens which suggest an allusive journey of exploration to icy northern regions and the also nautically reminiscent ‘North Sea Harbour’ by Robert Henderson Blyth. John Bellamy who, to quote the hyperactive website from Glasgow, Art in the City,” Many of Bellany's paintings contain the Fishing community… with large Fishing boats moored up”, displays here a classical theme with ’Odysseus II’ – a painting that aptly suggests island voyages and arrivals. Here too are some appealing still life works by Alfons Bytautas but it is the two mixed media compositions by Stephanie Dees that recall my personal memories of Edinburgh. These are the charming ‘Winter Skyline’ and ‘Edinburgh Trees’. Then, there are the excellent drawings of ‘Cavehill ,near Lyne’ and Spring Landscape by Sir William Gillies which are an added delight. Other works from the University of Edinburgh and Edinburgh’s City Art Centre include pictures by William Crozier, William Gear, Wilhelmina Barns-Graham, Robin Philipson and Anne Redpath. Other artists include: Craigie Aitchison and Alan Davie. The exhibition is staged in the elegant three-floored Georgian Lemon Street Gallery, named after the mining magnate and local MP Sir William Lemon, MP for Penryn (1770-1774) and Cornwall (1774-1824).
