Tempting Temperas
December 09
This new exhibition which opens at the
Victoria Art Gallery on 9 January highlights the wonderful
collection of jewel-like tempera paintings in the gallery’s
permanent collection. The majority were created by the artist
Joseph Southall in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century,
inspired by the art of the Renaissance and his travels in
Italy.
Katharine Wall, Collections Manager at the
Bath & North East Somerset Councill-run gallery commented:
“Before the 1500s, tempera, a mixture of pigment and egg, was the
favoured method of most artists. Following the discovery of
oil paint, tempera fell from favour. Occasionally used by
artists such as William Blake, it was rarely seen until the tempera
revival at the very beginning of the 20th century.”
“Tempera painting is laborious and requires
great skill. Oil paint is a forgiving, adaptable medium which
can be painted over and reworked. Tempera, by contrast, cannot be
altered once the paint has been laid down. It is a more
demanding medium, which almost certainly explains why artists
abandoned it.”
Joseph Southall (1861–1944) first saw tempera
paintings in 1883, during a tour of Italy. Seduced by the
vibrancy and delicacy of Italian Renaissance temperas, he started
to experiment with the technique, applying it to scenes of everyday
life such as the beach at Cromer and children playing. Thanks to
Southall’s efforts, by 1900 tempera painting was well established
in England, and the Society of Painters in Tempera was founded.
One of Southall’s pupils was Maxwell Armfield
(1882 – 1972), who also has a painting displayed in the
exhibition. Armfield, in his turn, taught the technique to
Helen Cochrane (1868 – 1946). Born in Bath, Cochrane spent
many years in Italy. The country provided her with an endless
source of inspiration. She left a large collection of works
of art to the Gallery, including paintings by her and Maxwell
Armfield.
Tempting Temperas continues
until 7 March in the small downstairs gallery
at The Victoria Art Gallery in Bridge Street,
Bath. The Gallery is open Tuesday – Saturday 10.00-17.00, Sunday
13.30-17.00, and closed on Mondays. For more information on the
exhibition and other events at the Victoria Art Gallery, log on to
http://www.victoriagal.org.uk/
ENDS