Curator's Blog - Mark Bills
Wednesday 21 July
This month has been particularly busy with the Watts Chapel celebrations coming to a head with the Symposium and exhibition. It was wonderfully rewarding to hear all the papers offering new light into this most significant building. There is so much more to learn about it.
The Hope project is moving forward well and I had the pleasure of visiting the renowned conservator Allyson McDermott to see progress on the Tynecastle wallpaper which is presently being conserved by her studio. We saw the painstaking work of removing the rather inappropriate green paint which had gunged up the original raised design and luminescent colour of the original. This takes it back to reveal the undercoat and remnants of the original crimson. This now needs painting to its original colour to give the rich finish that G F Watts wanted for his paintings. Sadly whole sections did not survive, but new pieces are being woven carefully following the original design.
Click on any of the images below to begin a slideshow
The gold paint for the ceiling of the gallery is also being currently worked upon and the ceiling is currently filled with samples being tested. We know that it was originally a silver base (over a ground) and that gold lacquer covered it which gave it its distinctive soft gold finish. Layers of paint are being tested to replicate this finish and effect. It is exciting to think that these important colours and finishes will be brought back for the collection that we hold.
Thursday 3 June 2010
Summer sees a celebration of Mary Watts in talks, exhibition and print and the new Watts Magazine reflected this seasonal theme with articles about the chapel, her ceiling and kiln at Limnerslease. One of the articles, which looked at the early days of the Compton Pottery, featured an illustration from a 1915 catalogue of the Pottery which advertised a Winged Hours Sundial available in 'Red' at £3 and 'Gray' for £3 10s. It was serendipity that one should come up for auction earlier this week and we were successful in acquiring it. It is a delightful addition to our collection and will feature in our redisplayed gallery and garden when we reopen next year. Veronica Franklin Gould, who is researching the life of Mary Watts, wrote to me and told me of her excitement at us acquiring the piece noting that it was: 'Mary's first Compton, sundial design of 30 March 1898, very important for the Mary Seton Watts collection, as it epitomises her symbolism and pattern-making.' The details of its winged creatures, angels and zephyrs, is quite charming and I am sure that it will admired by visitors to the Gallery. In the meantime it will be exhibited at the Watts Cemetery Chapel exhibition at the Lewis Elton Gallery, University of Surrey, between 9 and 22 July this year.
Thursday 6 May 2010
It is great to see the Tea Shop up and running and brimming full with visitors to the Watts Gallery estate. The tea and the cakes are terrific. Watts himself had some very strict dietary habits, particularly the later years when he was in Compton following the diet of the American doctor James Henry Salisbury, M.D. (1823 –1905) in order to relieve him of his various ailments. He had read Dr. Salisbury’s book, “The Relation of Alimentation and Disease” of 1888 and was a firm believer of his system, as Mary put it, ‘Signor said. He had made a great experiment, and was following the system of the American Doctor Salisbury. Hitherto he had lived much more on farinaceous foods, always very carefully prepared by his devoted and clever cook. Now she put out all her skill to make minced beef as perfectly palatable as might be, and it became the staple of his food, working in time quite wonders for him. After a few weeks he lost all sense of stiffness and pain in the joints, and, what was of the utmost importance, the circulation became good once more, as Doctor Bond declared when after an absence of some weeks he held his pulse and found it free of that tension which hitherto had given so much anxiety.
Wednesday 31 March 2010
This week sees the publication of G F Watts in Kensington: Little Holland House and its Gallery by Barbara Bryant. Although many have heard of the building and know that Watts lived there, they don't know how significant a building it is. What marks it as different is the fact that it was a public gallery, open at weekends from 2-6 for anyone who wished to visit. Opening up a gallery in a private house is a rarity and Watts allowed everyone in who made the journey to Kensington. A rarity even today.
Wednesday 3 March 2010
It is some time since I have written a blog and I hope that the snowy weather, beautiful though it was, is at an end for a while. It has been a busy time here with work on publications and preparations for the summer celebrations of the Chapel as well as the re-opening of the Gallery. We have also had a loan request from the National Gallery of Modern Art, Rome, for paintings for the exhibition The Dream of Italy in 19th century English Art from Turner to the Pre-Raphaelites and Symbolists which will run from 10 June until 10th October 2010. This has been agreed by Trustees and we are lending works as well as contributing text to G F Watts’s contribution to the exhibition. Italy was a huge source of inspiration for him and his favourite painters included Michelangelo, Titian, Tintoretto and Veronese as well as basing his huge fresco at Lincoln’s Inn on Raphael’s School of Athens which he had seen at the Vatican. Looking at the aged portrait of Watts is like looking at the late self-portrait of Titian, grand old masters of art. It was George Meredith who aptly named Watts, ‘the Titian of Limnerslease’.
If its an Italian summer for Watts, it’s a Compton summer for Mary as we will be celebrating the extraordinary Compton Cemetery Chapel with a publication and symposium at St Paul’s Cathedral and Compton Village Hall on 9 and 10 July. It will consider both the decoration of spiritual places at St Paul’s giving a national perspective on this important building and a day exploring in detail the chapel itself. We will also be holding a celebratory exhibition at the Lewis Elton Gallery (University of Surrey), with material drawn from our collection. I have been working closely with the University of Surrey, where I am now a Visiting Fellow, helping to develop an MA, modules which will use the resources of the Watts Gallery and be based here. The course will start in 2012 for those who might be interested.
Find out more about the Watts Symposium 2010 here
Wednesday 20 January 2010
Snow fell across the country and Compton was completely blocked off. The Gallery’s Information Point and the Chapel closed and everything seemed to grind to a halt. On the good side it meant that the first flush of the weather made the whole of the village looked quite wonderful and the red sky in the morning that warned of it was spectacular.
The Compton Cemetery Chapel designed by Mary Watts looked particularly good in snow. Recently I have been planning a study day on the chapel to take place in July where speakers will come together to speak about various aspects of the building and discuss it together, as the Watts Gallery will be closed it seems a good idea to celebrate that unique building which remains open. Whilst we’re closed I have also been planning a series of ten talks that explore not only the art of G F and Mary Watts, but also the history of the Wattses in Compton and the unique legacy that they created here.
Monday 14 December 2009
This week the photography of the chapel began. In order to record all the detail that Mary put into the decoration of it, a scaffolding tower was required. It has been a revelation to get so close to detail that is lost when staring up from the floor of the chapel. In particular the eternal circle, never beginning, never ending, at the apex of the dome was very different to how I had expected. To see the central circle as it is in three dimensions and the decorations around it in relief, was a new experience. The photographs will be invaluable in a number of different ways in recording the chapel in its present state illuminating the detail we had not seen in its full glory and to provide images for guides to explain the symbols. Mary was very clear in what she meant by most of the symbols, but there is still more to learn and the photographs will be invaluable in this process.
Photographs are taken by Anne Purkiss
(top) the scaffolding in the interior of the chapel
(bottom)
a capital representing St John (the eagle)
Wednesday 11 November 2009
Last week, much of the best of our collection went north to the Mercer Art Gallery in Harrogate with the G F Watts: Victorian Visionary exhibition. The gallery itself is a Victorian gem in the centre of the spa town and the show, I am sure, will look very good there. It will be so good to see the paintings again rather than in storage. My hope is that it will find a new audience for G F Watts in the north of England. They were last shown there in Newcastle in 1905 as a leg of his memorial exhibition organized by Mary Watts. At that time, the response was wholeheartedly enthusiastic. Today Watts may divide a contemporary audience, yet one thing is for certain, there is always something in Watts’s output that any visitor will be engaged by.
Friday 30 October 2009
This week I had a visit to a sculptor conservator’s studio to see what had been done on two sculptures by Watts. The fist is a seated female figure, yet to be full identified. It was rather a shock to see her in two pieces her legs and pelvis comfortably seated on a work surface whilst the head and torso was detached. It had corrupted very badly in the last two decades and disintegration had rendered it in two. Historic photographs show her original position before she had crumbled and the conservator will put it back together for display in the gallery. A lot has been learnt on how Watts actually constructed the sculpture and the materials that he used.
The second sculpture is a prototype for Hugh Lupus and Physical Energy. One can see very well what a fragile condition that it is in being suspended by frames and braces in order for the conservator to be able to conserve it. An internal structure is being made to support it and the work then conserved around it. It is a key work in the genesis of the great Physical Energy that stands in Kensington Gardens, Cape Town and Harare. The whole Hope project is about restoring the collection as well as the gallery and it will be an exciting moment to see these and other works fully conserved.
Friday 21 August 2009
In the last few weeks I have spent evenings at the Watts Chapel when the evening sun makes the terracotta glow a most extraordinary colour. Mary describes the symbols that she used as magic keys that open a whole world of enchantment. The more I look at every detail of it, both inside and out, I am enchanted. I cannot claim to follow exactly the path of the just and righteous, but the symbols do connect to a world of rich history of thought and imagery. Enchantment has led me to look further into the sources of her symbolism. She wrote at length of its various meanings in her book, The Word in the Pattern, which is very useful guide, but needs to read on the spot to find the images she describes. One thing I am very conscious of is that we must provide a guide for visitors which shows easily and concisely the main points of the symbolism that she uses. That will be a pleasure to do. In the meantime visitors who would like a tour we can provide this.
Friday 14 August 2009
Work continues to move forward with the collection and it was wonderful to see some images of the frescos that have been conserved at the conservation studio in Liverpool. It was, before closure, almost hidden from public view, installed as it was high on the walls of the picture gallery. They were in desperate need of conservation and were sent directly to conservation. What was revealed was wonderful moments of painting which had been obscured by years of dirt. Watts had painted the frescos for Lord Landsowne and his house at Bowood. It was painted in 1858 and shows Achilles watching Briseis taken from his tents which was ordered by Agamemnon at Troy, depriving the hero of his lover. Mary Watts recalled that “If in the mood, he [G F Watts] would tell stories from the Greek mythology, or from Homer; and his listeners sometimes enticed him to this by pretending to believe in the invulnerability of Achilles, which always stirred him to indignation ; but in the end he would be led to tell all the story of Troy of Achilles and Briseis…”
Friday 3 July 2009
Hot on the heels of the celebrations of Postman’s Park came a conference on Heroism, ‘My Hero’ Defining and Constructing Non-Military Heroism, held at King’s College London. This fascinating conference looked at the notion of heroism through some very interesting examples, from comic book heroes to Postman’s Park. The addition of a new plaque at G F Watts’s Memorial to Heroic Self-Sacrifice stimulated debate on to whether more should be added, something which had already had national press coverage. Plans for the redisplay of the gallery have stepped up a gear and the re-opening looks very close indeed. It is very exciting and I cannot wait to start moving the collection back into the galleries. This week has also seen two additions to the collection, both from the Compton Pottery and both which add greatly to landscaping the garden. The first is a fine large scroll pot. The second is a garden fairy, Harebell, which was produced at Compton from their line of garden statuary originally sold at £17 and fifteen shillings. It was generously donated to us at the most appropriate moment, just before the Watts Gallery holds its Fairy Fun day on Sunday 19th July. The Victorian fascination with fairies is alive with children everywhere.
The Harebell Fairy
O bells, on stems so thin and fine!
Friday 29 May 2009
Last week I spent a day at Postman’s Park, preparing it for the celebrations there on 3 June. Watts Gallery staff, the ceramicist who designed the new plaque and volunteers worked together to clean up the monument, refresh the original lettering declaring the wall’s intention as a memorial to self-sacrifice and site the ceramic panel. It was wonderful to see the dirt of years disappear and to see the original tiles gleam in the sun. It also gave me a chance to look again at the stories that unfold for every visitor to the park. It was clear that from the great interest of those who questioned us as we worked that they were equally moved, giving us cash donations and expressing the profound influence the monument had made on them. One, a new visitor to London, said that all the sites he had seen in the metropolis was dwarfed by the impact made upon him by Postman’s Park. It is a truly moving and special place. It is everything that a grand memorial is not; simply expressed words placed at eye-level in the medium of a mass-produced tile. Yet each is individual, factual and profound. It is the most appropriate celebration of ‘everyday heroes’ that one could imagine. Join us on 3rd June for our celebrations. Click here to find out more.
Monday 6 April 2009
During closure the collection has gone into storage and we had a visit to that store to move some of the objects and to take some measurements in preparation of the re-display of Watts Gallery. The store is quite an extraordinary place that reminds one of the set of Dr No rather than a tradition picture store. It is in fact a subterranean space (once used for the storage of weapons) which has been adapted to reach the required environmental standard for museum objects both in terms of stable relative humidity and temperature, light not being a problem. Railways lines and platforms created from its former life can be found around the whole site and now provide at times the opportunity of moving large museum objects. It is re-assuring they are there, but it will be good to see them return to the gallery next year.
Thursday 12 March 2009
When Mary and George Frederic Watts came up with the name ‘Limnerslease’ for their Surrey home, they were thinking of a name appropriate for an artist’s (Limner’s) retreat where they could further their art work. It was also a pun on the word lease because they were doing exactly that until they bought it from the Hitchens. This has a strong echo for today when we are leasing Watts’s Great Studio. It is such a wonderful space where, if the spirit of the ‘Signor’ dwells anywhere, it is most certainly here. This is the very heart of the Watts’s in Compton, where they could, and we now can, look down at the work going on over at the Gallery. Here Watts was creating a living monument for posterity, leaving it in trust to further generations. It was always Mary’s wish that after her death, the Curator of Watts Gallery would live at Limnerslease, and this, if only temporary, has happened. It is strange to live where Watts lived, it gives one a real sense and feel for the artist. It was and is a retreat and workplace. The Wattses used it in Autumn and Winter and whilst here went to bed early to rise at the crack of dawn, and there is something in the air that makes one want to follow this pattern.
Wednesday 4 March 2009
This last week has been dominated by the Watts Symposium held at the Guildhall Art Gallery and St Paul’s Cathedral. It was a wonderful opportunity to hear so many different perspectives on the artist. We heard papers that considered Watts within the light of Darwin, from a philosophical and spiritual perspective, as well as a provocative take on his depiction of women. One fascinating discussion that it sparked was how could the reputation of an artist who was so widely respected in his own lifetime have suffered so much in the twentieth century. All the Victorians fell, but none like Watts. Regarded as one of the greatest artists of his day his reputation plummeted and was pilloried as all that was bad in Victorian art – apart from his portraits that is. Naturally this is quite unjust, particularly as Watts is not the typical Victorian when it came to painting. Even in his own lifetime he was considered as a man apart. He can be difficult no one at the conference would deny this, but equally he is greatly rewarding. So much of Victorian art lacks the breadth and profundity of Watts vision. William Blake’s paintings and drawings were not truly appreciated until long after his death. The same will, I am sure, be true of Watts.
Thursday 5 February 2009
SNOW has dominated the week so far and Compton has ground to a halt for a day or two. This is not all bad and it has certainly not stopped me going into the office. It is literally next door and the snow would have to be very deep to do that! The stillness that has ensued in the wake of the snow has also given me time to take the opportunity of looking afresh at the Watts Gallery, Limnerslease (Watts’s studio home) and the cemetery chapel. A deep coating of snow seems to shed new light upon them. The chapel in particular looked absolutely wonderful with snow highlighting the stunning terracotta relief. It is very enjoyable to be drawn in by the rich pattern of symbols that decorate it and to muse on the meanings that Mary Watts imbued it with. It is really important to take the time to look again at what is under our noses, to spend time to admire and wonder. The chapel is an inspiring place in so many ways: as an achievement of a village working together; of the training that Mary gave to her potters and to its determined individuality. But all this would mean nothing if it were not for her vision and genius in creating something that will continue to captivate long after the lives of the creator and those who continue to care for it.
Wednesday 14 January 2009
One of the sure signposts that an image is, or has become iconic and very well-known, is when it has been used by a cartoonist or satirist as the basis of a cartoon. The reason for this, is, of course, quite simple, the audience has to be able to recognise it. How gratifying to see that Hope is upholding its iconic status by appearing in 'The Guardian' today (14th January) as a cartoon. In it the figure of Barack Obama personifies Hope, blindfold and desperately plucking at a single string. A wonderful continuation of use of the painting and an affirmation of the importance of it.
Friday 9 January 2009
The New Year seems a bit depressing with the Recession, although things remain positive at Watts Gallery. A number of people have told me that have visited the Watts exhibition at Guildhall Art Gallery that they find the painting Can These Bones Live? a really pertinent picture for today. In it Watts bewails the state of the nation through rich symbolism in the most wonderful autumnal colours, the colours of Dawn or Twilight. Watts asked his viewers to make up their own mind. The central image is of a great English oak planted by King Alfred being weighed down and broken by a heavy golden pall, symbolic of, according to Watts, how materialism and greed were destroying a great nation. In the foreground are the bones which may or may not live again. When Watts was interviewed about it he said: ‘Yes. Oh! Yes, it is certainly pessimistic. But I have to be, for I can’t see how the tendency of our age, how its Mammonism, is to be overcome.’ Symbols representing gambling, murder and drunkenness abound and one might think this a very depressing picture, if it were not for the beauty, the poetic vision it portrays and the possibility of Hope present even in Watts’s most bleakest hour. A sign of the times? Judge for yourself. This week I have been working on a lecture on Watts and Mammon which is as much to do with spirituality as with economics. I will be giving this as a local lecture on 4th February and at the Watts Symposium on 26th and 27th February in London. There are some very interesting lectures being given at the Symposium and I recommend to everyone with even a vague interest in G F Watts.
Monday 15 December 2008
So much is happening at Watts Gallery it is difficult to find time to write a blog! Openings, talks and moves have meant another busy and rewarding week. I suppose that the move of Physical Energy and Tennyson have been the most dramatic here. Each weighing about three tons, these essentially plaster sculpture [gesso grosso] made them both difficult to move as well as being extremely fragile. A further complication was that the statue of Tennyson was too tall to fit under the cross beams of the sculpture gallery. This meant that he had to lowered to an angle of 40 degrees to move him outside and into his new home. This was worrying to watch, but the careful planning of Oxford Exhibition Services meant that every possible thing that might go wrong was prepared for. In a kind of a giant sack truck, the great Victorian poet, was slowly lowered onto huge bags of air to protect the details of the sculpture, supported by an A-frame and moved on wheels bit by bit out of the gallery. The process took so long that it was dark when he finally reached the cold outside. Photographs show how dramatic and beautiful, if a little surreal, this all looked.
Tuesday 2 December 2008
It has been a very eventful week at Watts Gallery with the collection moving into storage and my family and I moving into new accommodation. On top of this hanging at St. Paul’s meant there was little time to draw breath. All the pictures were moved safely, even The Guelphs and the Ghiberlines which was lowered like a drawbridge gently to the gallery floor. The St Paul’s exhibition Parables in Paint is now open to the public and the new house already feels like a home. It is time to look at neglected Emails and see the completion of the new book on Postman’s Park. The gallery looks sad, bereft of its art, as we move the last bits and pieces from it and the asbestos survey begins.
Tuesday 18 November 2008
G F Watts Victorian Visionary opened at the Guildhall Art Gallery on 11th November. It was wonderful to see the Watts Gallery collection within a very different context. Rich red and green damask wall-coverings and good gallery lighting is such a contrast to the Watts Gallery. A different hang and environment makes you look at the paintings again and what a revelation! Everyone tells me that they are seeing the paintings for the time and how beautiful, powerful and engaging they are, which, I have to say, is a delight. To see G F Watts shine and reflect just part of his importance as a painter is a significant marker and I can’t wait to see them in the restored Gallery in Compton. The catalogue to accompany the exhibition was also launched and I hope that the new research it contains and its survey of Watts, the Watts Gallery and Collection will be well received, it has been a very rewarding process working on this with Barbara Bryant. Watts and the collection in Compton has often wrongly been seen as the work of a faded eccentric outsider, it is my hope that the exhibition as gone someway to address this misconception.
Monday 27 October 2008
This week Echo, that huge picture by Watts, painted whilst he was resident in Italy was taken down from the wall. Or to put it more accurately it was de-installed from its fixed position. For Echo, like the The Guelphs and the Ghibellines is a painting too large to fit into the gallery in normal circumstances so a special fixing for them was made in the 1940s. They were boxed in. I have always felt that they looked rather uncomfortable spilling over the picture rail and dominated the wall creating niches on either side. Furthermore, they were not added until well after Mary Watts’s death. I believe the wall is much more suitable for pictures now. This also allowed us to open the picture slot which will be used to take Echo back to the Tate to whom it belongs. It looks really remarkable seeing through the long narrow slot, the outside from inside and the inside from outside. Mary really thought about pictures and how the gallery had to work.
Tuesday 21 October 2008
Last week involved a meeting to see a ‘sky dome,’ at University College London. The reason for this was to test the day-lighting conditions at Watts Gallery and how we can improve the quality of light that enters the gallery. I had never heard of a ‘sky dome’ before and for those, like myself, who do not know what one is, a brief word of explanation is needed. It is a large hemisphere made up of lights with an artificial sun which can move to any position within the dome. Inside this dome is placed a model of the building to be tested and the sun is moved to replicate any hour on any day of the year. The lamps in the dome replicating overcast conditions. The experience reminded one, in part, of a BBC imagined alien spaceship, perhaps one that had escaped from a set of Doctor Who. In the hemisphere was placed a model of Watts Gallery and all conditions were tested to see how light would fall within the building. This is both to ensure that daylight continues to be the main lighting during the day and that no pictures are sun burnt in the process. It was fascinating and illuminated all of Watts Gallery’s struggles over the lighting in its 104 year history. The tests help us enormously in the architect designing to give a lighting that remains unique and shows the paintings to good effect.
Tuesday 14 October 2008
Today the Graham Robertson Gallery was cleared to make way for an exhibition of the Finnis Scott collection. This most remarkable collection focuses upon the genre and narrative elements of Victorian painting. Very different to G F Watts and not the kind of art he enjoyed, but full of exquisite scenes of Victorian life painted in great and revealing detail. It will be good to see them on the walls of the gallery. Last night was a celebration of the closing of the gallery and it was good to see a show of strong support that the gallery has from so many quarters. The information centre opened at the weekend which gives a continued presence of Watts Gallery where visitors can see a new film about G F Watts and visit the shop. With all the events and the information point, my hope is that interest in G F Watts will continue and grow and that expectation for re-opening of Watts Gallery with it.
Monday 6 October 2008
At the moment the gallery feels very much like it is in between exhibitions, paintings off the wall, getting ready for display. The odd thing is that the Watts Gallery will be left empty and the exhibitions will open elsewhere. I look forward to the day when the Gallery is being re-hung.
The picture slot in the main gallery was revealed as Eve Repentant came down from her place on the wall. This slot hasn’t been used in over 50 years as the tree that blocked its way outside proved. It is difficult to imagine that huge pictures haven’t entered or left the building in that time, even though many of Watts’s paintings, particularly the Italian pictures, are so huge. Malcolm has felled the silver birch and its roots have been removed so I can’t wait to see this concealed entrance used once more.
Sunday 28 September 2008
It's quite an historic moment the Watts Gallery closing for 2 years,
the first time in 100 years. The weekend was a last minute rush with
people wanting tours and trying to capture in their memory what it is
like now before restoration. The Gallery has managed to give the
illusion that she is a grand old lady who hasn't moved from her seat in
over a hundred years. A poor sad jilted Miss Haversham with cobwebs on
the wedding cake. A last glimpse into a forgotten world. But it has
changed quite radically and Mary Seton Watts was no Haversham, she was a
dynamic supporter of her husband's work and vision and creator of her
own vision throughout Compton. I can't image there being any cobwebs in
the gallery when she was around! Restoration is far more 'The Utmost for
the Highest' rather than 'Miss Haversham has left the building.'
On a personal note it will be strange to be leaving our home of the last two and a half years and we will miss visitors to the Gallery who keep it alive even if they occasionally peer in through our window.
Mark Bills
Curator of Watts Gallery
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