New exhibition celebrates Worcestershire’s influence on British Impressionism

Stanhope Forbes’ Chadding on Mount’s Bay
1902 Worcester City Collection.

Worcester City Art Gallery and Museum- Opens Saturday 4 March

From the Cornish Coast to the Malvern Hills arrives at Worcester City Art Gallery and Museum on 4 March until 1 July 2023

British impressionist works on loan from the Bowerman Trust and Southampton Art Gallery will be exhibited alongside works from Worcester’s Fine Art Collection

Includes new acquisitions of paintings by Dame Laura Knight

The new exhibition From the Cornish Coast to the Malvern Hills arrives at Worcester City Art Gallery and Museum on 4 March until 1 July 2023.

The exhibition celebrates the links between Worcestershire and the Newlyn School of artists who were pivotal in this magical moment of British art in the nineteenth and twentieth century.

British Impressionists characteristically painted in the open air, allowing the painter to capture the momentary effects of sunlight by working quickly, in front of their subject. Free brushstrokes and joyful colours feature prominently in their art. Their paintings often captured relationships between working people, families at leisure, and the landscapes they lived in.

The exhibition includes paintings by Stanhope Forbes, Dame Laura Knight and Elizabeth Forbes. Camille and Lucian Pissarro represent the influence of French Impressionists.

Stanhope Forbes, along with Walter Langley, Elizabeth Forbes and others, choose the small Cornish fishing village of Newlyn to become the centre of a new movement in British Art, founding the Newlyn School in the 1880s. Their paintings became highly regarded and were regularly exhibited at the Royal Academy. Many groups of artists following similar ideals and styles emerged around the country creating a new genre of art – British Impressionism. There are many wonderful examples in the Worcester City Collection and this exhibition explores their impact and legacy on British art, and how the Malvern Hills became a place of creative sanctuary and influence for many artists.

A Worcester favourite will take centre-stage of the exhibition; Stanhope Forbes’ Chadding on Mount’s Bay was voted Worcester’s most popular painting in a poll of top fifty works from the collection.

The exhibition also includes two works by Dame Laura Knight recently acquired for the Worcester City Collection. The artworks were purchased with support from Art Fund, the Arts Council England/V&A Purchase Grant Fund, Worcestershire Heritage, Art & Museums Charity and kind donations from Art Gallery & Museum Members. Dame Laura Knight lived and painted in Malvern and the town and hills become very dear to her, influencing her work.

Deborah Fox, Senior Curator at the Art Gallery and Museum commented: “Worcester City Art Gallery & Museum is committed to bringing great art and artists to Worcester. This incredible selection of British Impressionist works shines a light on the importance of this moment in art, as well as being a joy to see”.

For more information, please visit www.museumsworcestershire.org.uk