Abbot Hall’s summer exhibition in Cumbria has mounted an exhibition titled; “Francis Bacon to Paula Rego”. It celebrates and explores the work of major British painters of the last fifty years. The featured artists reads like a who’s who of the art world and draws from Abbot Hall’s significant collection of twentieth century painting with artists including Michael Andrews, Frank Auerbach, Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud & David Hockney. – a mixture of portrait and landscape works which both highlights the impressive collection at Abbot Hall and pays tribute to the rich tradition of painting in the United Kingdom.
Inspired by Michael Peppiatt’s 1987 exhibition A School of London: Six Figurative Painters. Francis Bacon to Paula Rego explores the original theme of Peppiatt’s show whilst also seeking to survey contemporary British painters working in the United Kingdom, examining how they have sought to take painting forward and make it relevant in the twenty first century. This will include artists Tony Bevan, Christopher Le Brun and Paula Rego.
Comprising over thirty eight paintings, Francis Bacon to Paula Rego features two works by Francis Bacon including one of his iconic paintings Head VI, 1949, on loan from the Arts Council Collection, three paintings by Frank Auerbach, one from the galleries own collection JYM in the Studio VII, 1965, and works by Paula Rego including Sleeping, 1986 from the Arts Council Collection as well as important pieces by RB Kitaj, Lucian Freud, Tony Bevan, Leon Kossoff, and the newly appointed head of the Royal Academy, Christopher Le Brun. Looking forward to the next fifty years of British painting Francis Bacon to Paula Rego also features a selection of new works by emerging contemporary artists of growing international importance who include Carol Rhodes, Turner prize nominee (2005) Gillian Carnegie, Simon Carter and Robert Priseman.
Artistic Director Helen Watson said of the show ‘Featuring work from the major collections including Tate, National Galleries of Scotland and the Arts Council Collection Francis Bacon to Paula Rego brings together some of the most important artists of last fifty years and exhibits them alongside some of the most challenging and exciting British painters working today.’
The Lakeland Arts Trust is an independent charity (reg. no. 526980) based in the Lake District in the north west of England. The Trust was originally set up in 1957 to save Abbot Hall, an important Grade I listed Georgian Villa on the banks of the River Kent in Kendal. In 1971 the stable block was opened as the Museum of Lakeland Life, and this won the first Museum of the Year Award.
In the late 1990’s the Trust became aware of an important Arts and Crafts movement house which was threatened with re-development. The Trust raised the money to acquire Blackwell which was designed by M.H. Baillie Scott in 1898. Built in a spectacular position above Lake Windermere, the house was opened to the public in 2001, and is one of only a handful of Grade I listed houses from this period.
Since Abbot Hall was opened in 1962, the Trust has built up important collections of fine art, furniture, craft and the applied arts, which are displayed in the context of the period of houses for which they were made. The collections also include contemporary art which has been a strong thread since the Trust was formed.
The temporary exhibition programme has achieved a national profile and, together with the collections, Abbot Hall provides a valuable resource for both children and adults to learn from and experience art at first hand. The exceptional qualities of the buildings and their settings are used to present art in a way that is more accessible and inspired than in many of the more institutional galleries. The Trust has worked with several artists to explore the interplay between art and architecture, and how a more human, domestic scale can encourage a more intimate, less formal relationship with art.
In 2007 a new site on the shores of Lake Windermere was acquired by the Trust, together with an exceptional collection of historic boats. These will form the basis of a major new development which will link many of the key areas the Trust is concerned with. A place will be created that combines the enjoyment of the Lake with an inspirational setting for art, and which will appeal to a wide and diverse range of audiences.
CUMBRIA.- Abbot Hall’s summer exhibition Francis Bacon to Paula Rego celebrates and explores the work of major British painters of the last fifty years. The featured artists reads like a who’s who of the art world and draws from Abbot Hall’s significant collection of twentieth century painting with artists including Michael Andrews, Frank Auerbach, Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud & David Hockney. – a mixture of portrait and landscape works which both highlights the impressive collection at Abbot Hall and pays tribute to the rich tradition of painting in the United Kingdom. Inspired by Michael Peppiatt’s 1987 exhibition A School of London: Six Figurative Painters. Francis Bacon to Paula Rego explores the original theme of Peppiatt’s show whilst also seeking to survey contemporary British painters working in the United Kingdom, examining how they have sought to take painting forward and make it relevant in the twenty first century. This will include artists Tony Bevan, Christopher Le Brun and Paula Rego. Comprising over thirty eight paintings, Francis Bacon to Paula Rego features two works by Francis Bacon including one of his iconic paintings Head VI, 1949, on loan from the Arts Council Collection, three paintings by Frank Auerbach, one from the galleries own collection JYM in the Studio VII, 1965, and works by Paula Rego including Sleeping, 1986 from the Arts Council Collection as well as important pieces by RB Kitaj, Lucian Freud, Tony Bevan, Leon Kossoff, and the newly appointed head of the Royal Academy, Christopher Le Brun. Looking forward to the next fifty years of British painting Francis Bacon to Paula Rego also features a selection of new works by emerging contemporary artists of growing international importance who include Carol Rhodes, Turner prize nominee (2005) Gillian Carnegie, Simon Carter and Robert Priseman. Artistic Director Helen Watson said of the show ‘Featuring work from the major collections including Tate, National Galleries of Scotland and the Arts Council Collection Francis Bacon to Paula Rego brings together some of the most important artists of last fifty years and exhibits them alongside some of the most challenging and exciting British painters working today.’