"Looking at Art" is the Society's Art Appreciation Group
Page edited by Michael Culverwell
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This group meets most months at Holy Trinity School, North Willows Road, Stratford upon Avon. The Society has three members who produce an interesting presentation on Artists, Painting genre or Art highlights related to upcoming art appreciation visits.
The meeting starts at 7.00pm and the evening is punctuated by a refreshment break with cake enabling members to mix and mingle. We have an interesting programme, and you would be most welcome. You don’t need to be an artist to join, you can join the Society as a Pure Art Lover (PAL) at a modist fee of £20.00 per year, which entitles you to attend all the meetings and enjoy the art appreciation visits.
“Looking at Art” following the AGM on Thursday 13 March at 7.00 at Holy Trinity School.
The Life and Work of James McNeil Whistler
By Michael Culverwell
He participated in the artistic ferment of Paris and London in the late nineteenth century, crafted a distinctive style from diverse sources, and arrived at a version of Post-Impressionism in the mid-1860s, a time when most of his contemporaries in the avant-garde were still exploring Realism and Impressionism. Born in Lowell, Massachusetts, Whistler spent part of his youth in Saint Petersburg, Russia, After working in the drawings division of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, where he received his first training in etching, Whistler—already fluent in French from his childhood years in Russia—decided to pursue a career as an artist by studying in Paris.raph
Thursday 23 January
“Joseph Wright of Derby” by Tony Mawbey:
Joseph Wright, styled “of Derby”, as a means of distinguishing him from another artist of the same name, was an artist whose 40 year career coincided with the flowering of the Enlightenment and spanned a period when the art world was undergoing major changes.
Wright’s name is perhaps not as recognisable as those of Reynolds or Gainsborough, but he was in the vanguard of the new British school of art and throughout his career he pushed the boundaries, exploring his interest in light through a diverse range of subjects.
Light, and its counterpart dark, were the central features on which the narrative of his paintings revolved. He used them to create mood and feeling often posing his figures in the traditional attitude of melancholy with the head resting on a hand. Throughout his life he suffered from bouts of depression and many of his paintings have been seen as a reflection on the artist’s own state of mind.
Today, Wright’s work can be found on the walls of the world’s leading art institutions, but the largest collection of his work can be found in the museum in his hometown Derby.
