Latest News - Oct-Dec 2006
16 December 2006
Watts Gallery Given a £4.3 million Earmarked Grant
A Wonderful Christmas Present from the Heritage Lottery Fund
Watts Gallery has been thrown a multi-million lifeline by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF). The HLF awarded a grant to Watts Gallery of £4.3 million to help safeguard the future of the building and its collection. We now set to work on our building plans and the restoration work will begin in the Spring of 2008. In the meantime, we will prepare for closure and taking the collection on tour.The money will go towards repairing the roof, restoring the rest of the building and conserving the art collection. It will also strengthen the learning programme at the Gallery, help to establish a rich resource for local schools, colleges and community groups as well as an international centre of Victorian study and research.The award will provide the foundation stone of the £10 million appeal to save the Gallery. We are thrilled that the love and affection in which the Gallery is held both in this country and abroad, the international significance of the collection, the beauty of the building and its setting and its extraordinary role as a national gallery in the heart of a village has been recognised by the Heritage Lottery Fund.We will keep you informed of further developments. We now need to raise the matching sum towards this grant. With your support we have already reached over £1m of pledges and gifts.
8 October 2006
Ionides Family Portrait
Over 80 descendants of one of Britain’s greatest arts patrons – the Anglo-Greek Ionides family, depicted in Watts Gallery’s recently acquired early 1840s portrait by George Frederic Watts OM RA (1817-1904) of Alexander Constantine Ionides (1810-1890) with his wife and children – gathered in Compton, Surrey, on Saturday, 7 October 2006 for the first ever reunion, hosted by Watts Gallery, of this remarkable and distinguished family.
For the occasion, this exceptional portrait was specially exhibited at the head of the gallery to enable the attendees – over 80 members of the extended Ionides family with ages ranging from 9 weeks to 94 years – to take full advantage of this spectacular early work by G. F. Watts. For many, it was the first opportunity they had had to view the portrait that was acquired last year by Watts Gallery – with the generous assistance of the Heritage Lottery Fund, The Art Fund and Forbes Inc.
Alexander Constantine Ionides (1810-1890) was G. F. Watts’s patron and the artist became a close family friend who painted five generations of the Ionides family. It is hoped that Saturday’s highly successful family reunion will strengthen the historic association between Watts and the Ionides family.
Alexander Constantine’s father came to England in 1815 to export Manchester cloth to Greece and Turkey. Alexander followed, founding Ionides & Co in 1827. When business prospered he and his family moved to London where he also ventured into merchant banking and became director of the Bank of London. His passion for art collecting led him to become one of the most important patrons of the arts and this passion was passed on to his children. In 1901 his eldest son, Constantine Alexander bequeathed his art collection to the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.
Commenting at the time of Watts Gallery’s acquisition of the portrait The Arts Fund’s David Barrie said “Ionides was an exceptionally generous and far-sighted patron of the arts – one of the most important in Victorian England. This painting helped to launch Watts’s career and strengthened his relationship with Ionides, which was long-lasting and very close.” Perdita Hunt, Director of Watts Gallery said, “Ionides was a vital patron to Watts and we are delighted to celebrate the significant relationship and partnership between two eminent Victorians captured by this marvellous family portrait”.
Dr Julian Demetriadi (grandson of Nellie Demetriadi née Ionides, fifth generation painted by Watts in 1893), said: “Saturday’s reunion was a wonderful occasion which I know that my ancestors in the Watts portrait would have been delighted about. Indeed, family members traveled from as far a field as Minneapolis and Oslo for the event, which was thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated by all. And, of course, none of this would have been possible without Watts Gallery and the generosity and support of Richard Ormond, Chairman of Watts Gallery Trustees, Perdita Hunt, and Curator Marks Bills – to whom the family owes a great debt. The reunion has certainly strengthened the links between Watts Gallery and the Ionides family, and we look forward to helping support G. F. Watts’s magnificent home and gallery in its bid to raise the necessary funds to ensure the building can be fully restored.”