This year our Annual HWG Exhibition will be held in the Victoria Hall of the Highgate Literary and Scientific Institution, 11 South Grove, Highgate, London N6 6BS. We look forward to seeing you there.
Opening Hours: Tuesday to Friday 1-5pm, Saturday 11am-4pm and Sunday 11am-5pm Gallery closed: Monday
This year our Annual HWG Exhibition will be held in the Victoria Hall of the Highgate Literary and Scientific Institution, 11 South Grove, Highgate, London N6 6BS. We look forward to seeing you there.
Opening Hours: Tuesday to Friday 1-5pm, Saturday 11am-4pm and Sunday 11am-5pm Gallery closed: Monday
This year our Annual HWG Exhibition will be held in the Victoria Hall of the Highgate Literary and Scientific Institution, 11 South Grove, Highgate, London N6 6BS. We look forward to seeing you there.
Opening Hours: Tuesday to Friday 1-5pm, Saturday 11am-4pm and Sunday 11am-5pm Gallery closed: Monday
This year our Annual HWG Exhibition will be held in the Victoria Hall of the Highgate Literary and Scientific Institution, 11 South Grove, Highgate, London N6 6BS. We look forward to seeing you there.
Opening Hours: Tuesday to Friday 1-5pm, Saturday 11am-4pm and Sunday 11am-5pm Gallery closed: Monday
This year our Annual HWG Exhibition will be held in the Victoria Hall of the Highgate Literary and Scientific Institution, 11 South Grove, Highgate, London N6 6BS. We look forward to seeing you there.
Opening Hours: Tuesday to Friday 1-5pm, Saturday 11am-4pm and Sunday 11am-5pm Gallery closed: Monday
This year our Annual HWG Exhibition will be held in the Victoria Hall of the Highgate Literary and Scientific Institution, 11 South Grove, Highgate, London N6 6BS. We look forward to seeing you there.
Opening Hours: Tuesday to Friday 1-5pm, Saturday 11am-4pm and Sunday 11am-5pm Gallery closed: Monday
This year our Annual HWG Exhibition will be held in the Victoria Hall of the Highgate Literary and Scientific Institution, 11 South Grove, Highgate, London N6 6BS. We look forward to seeing you there.
Opening Hours: Tuesday to Friday 1-5pm, Saturday 11am-4pm and Sunday 11am-5pm Gallery closed: Monday
This year our Annual HWG Exhibition will be held in the Victoria Hall of the Highgate Literary and Scientific Institution, 11 South Grove, Highgate, London N6 6BS. We look forward to seeing you there.
Opening Hours: Tuesday to Friday 1-5pm, Saturday 11am-4pm and Sunday 11am-5pm Gallery closed: Monday
This year our Annual HWG Exhibition will be held in the Victoria Hall of the Highgate Literary and Scientific Institution, 11 South Grove, Highgate, London N6 6BS. We look forward to seeing you there.
Opening Hours: Tuesday to Friday 1-5pm, Saturday 11am-4pm and Sunday 11am-5pm Gallery closed: Monday
This year our Annual HWG Exhibition will be held in the Victoria Hall of the Highgate Literary and Scientific Institution, 11 South Grove, Highgate, London N6 6BS. We look forward to seeing you there.
Opening Hours: Tuesday to Friday 1-5pm, Saturday 11am-4pm and Sunday 11am-5pm Gallery closed: Monday
This year our Annual HWG Exhibition will be held in the Victoria Hall of the Highgate Literary and Scientific Institution, 11 South Grove, Highgate, London N6 6BS. We look forward to seeing you there.
Opening Hours: Tuesday to Friday 1-5pm, Saturday 11am-4pm and Sunday 11am-5pm Gallery closed: Monday
This year our Annual HWG Exhibition will be held in the Victoria Hall of the Highgate Literary and Scientific Institution, 11 South Grove, Highgate, London N6 6BS. We look forward to seeing you there.
Opening Hours: Tuesday to Friday 1-5pm, Saturday 11am-4pm and Sunday 11am-5pm Gallery closed: Monday
This year our Annual HWG Exhibition will be held in the Victoria Hall of the Highgate Literary and Scientific Institution, 11 South Grove, Highgate, London N6 6BS. We look forward to seeing you there.
Opening Hours: Tuesday to Friday 1-5pm, Saturday 11am-4pm and Sunday 11am-5pm Gallery closed: Monday
Prints, oils, pastels, photography and more … the talents of HLSI members are on show.
Highgate Literary & Scientific Institution members – professional artists and accomplished amateurs alike – will display their work during the eighth Members’ Art Exhibition at the Highgate Gallery from 5 to 18 February 2016. Previous exhibitions, starting in 1996, were indicative of Highgate’s vibrant artistic life; the 2016 show will again demonstrate the many and varied talents of our members.
Exhibitors’ work ranges from paintings, prints, collages, etchings and photographs to wall hangings. Throughout the exhibition, one of the artists will be on hand to welcome visitors to the Highgate Gallery and will be pleased to discuss the pieces on view. All works will be offered for sale.
Tuesday-Friday 13:00-17:00
Saturday 11:00-16:00
Sunday 11:00-17:00
Closed Monday
Prints, oils, pastels, photography and more … the talents of HLSI members are on show.
Highgate Literary & Scientific Institution members – professional artists and accomplished amateurs alike – will display their work during the eighth Members’ Art Exhibition at the Highgate Gallery from 5 to 18 February 2016. Previous exhibitions, starting in 1996, were indicative of Highgate’s vibrant artistic life; the 2016 show will again demonstrate the many and varied talents of our members.
Exhibitors’ work ranges from paintings, prints, collages, etchings and photographs to wall hangings. Throughout the exhibition, one of the artists will be on hand to welcome visitors to the Highgate Gallery and will be pleased to discuss the pieces on view. All works will be offered for sale.
Tuesday-Friday 13:00-17:00
Saturday 11:00-16:00
Sunday 11:00-17:00
Closed Monday
Prints, oils, pastels, photography and more … the talents of HLSI members are on show.
Highgate Literary & Scientific Institution members – professional artists and accomplished amateurs alike – will display their work during the eighth Members’ Art Exhibition at the Highgate Gallery from 5 to 18 February 2016. Previous exhibitions, starting in 1996, were indicative of Highgate’s vibrant artistic life; the 2016 show will again demonstrate the many and varied talents of our members.
Exhibitors’ work ranges from paintings, prints, collages, etchings and photographs to wall hangings. Throughout the exhibition, one of the artists will be on hand to welcome visitors to the Highgate Gallery and will be pleased to discuss the pieces on view. All works will be offered for sale.
Tuesday-Friday 13:00-17:00
Saturday 11:00-16:00
Sunday 11:00-17:00
Closed Monday
Prints, oils, pastels, photography and more … the talents of HLSI members are on show.
Highgate Literary & Scientific Institution members – professional artists and accomplished amateurs alike – will display their work during the eighth Members’ Art Exhibition at the Highgate Gallery from 5 to 18 February 2016. Previous exhibitions, starting in 1996, were indicative of Highgate’s vibrant artistic life; the 2016 show will again demonstrate the many and varied talents of our members.
Exhibitors’ work ranges from paintings, prints, collages, etchings and photographs to wall hangings. Throughout the exhibition, one of the artists will be on hand to welcome visitors to the Highgate Gallery and will be pleased to discuss the pieces on view. All works will be offered for sale.
Tuesday-Friday 13:00-17:00
Saturday 11:00-16:00
Sunday 11:00-17:00
Closed Monday
Prints, oils, pastels, photography and more … the talents of HLSI members are on show.
Highgate Literary & Scientific Institution members – professional artists and accomplished amateurs alike – will display their work during the eighth Members’ Art Exhibition at the Highgate Gallery from 5 to 18 February 2016. Previous exhibitions, starting in 1996, were indicative of Highgate’s vibrant artistic life; the 2016 show will again demonstrate the many and varied talents of our members.
Exhibitors’ work ranges from paintings, prints, collages, etchings and photographs to wall hangings. Throughout the exhibition, one of the artists will be on hand to welcome visitors to the Highgate Gallery and will be pleased to discuss the pieces on view. All works will be offered for sale.
Tuesday-Friday 13:00-17:00
Saturday 11:00-16:00
Sunday 11:00-17:00
Closed Monday
Prints, oils, pastels, photography and more … the talents of HLSI members are on show.
Highgate Literary & Scientific Institution members – professional artists and accomplished amateurs alike – will display their work during the eighth Members’ Art Exhibition at the Highgate Gallery from 5 to 18 February 2016. Previous exhibitions, starting in 1996, were indicative of Highgate’s vibrant artistic life; the 2016 show will again demonstrate the many and varied talents of our members.
Exhibitors’ work ranges from paintings, prints, collages, etchings and photographs to wall hangings. Throughout the exhibition, one of the artists will be on hand to welcome visitors to the Highgate Gallery and will be pleased to discuss the pieces on view. All works will be offered for sale.
Tuesday-Friday 13:00-17:00
Saturday 11:00-16:00
Sunday 11:00-17:00
Closed Monday
Prints, oils, pastels, photography and more … the talents of HLSI members are on show.
Highgate Literary & Scientific Institution members – professional artists and accomplished amateurs alike – will display their work during the eighth Members’ Art Exhibition at the Highgate Gallery from 5 to 18 February 2016. Previous exhibitions, starting in 1996, were indicative of Highgate’s vibrant artistic life; the 2016 show will again demonstrate the many and varied talents of our members.
Exhibitors’ work ranges from paintings, prints, collages, etchings and photographs to wall hangings. Throughout the exhibition, one of the artists will be on hand to welcome visitors to the Highgate Gallery and will be pleased to discuss the pieces on view. All works will be offered for sale.
Tuesday-Friday 13:00-17:00
Saturday 11:00-16:00
Sunday 11:00-17:00
Closed Monday
Prints, oils, pastels, photography and more … the talents of HLSI members are on show.
Highgate Literary & Scientific Institution members – professional artists and accomplished amateurs alike – will display their work during the eighth Members’ Art Exhibition at the Highgate Gallery from 5 to 18 February 2016. Previous exhibitions, starting in 1996, were indicative of Highgate’s vibrant artistic life; the 2016 show will again demonstrate the many and varied talents of our members.
Exhibitors’ work ranges from paintings, prints, collages, etchings and photographs to wall hangings. Throughout the exhibition, one of the artists will be on hand to welcome visitors to the Highgate Gallery and will be pleased to discuss the pieces on view. All works will be offered for sale.
Tuesday-Friday 13:00-17:00
Saturday 11:00-16:00
Sunday 11:00-17:00
Closed Monday
Prints, oils, pastels, photography and more … the talents of HLSI members are on show.
Highgate Literary & Scientific Institution members – professional artists and accomplished amateurs alike – will display their work during the eighth Members’ Art Exhibition at the Highgate Gallery from 5 to 18 February 2016. Previous exhibitions, starting in 1996, were indicative of Highgate’s vibrant artistic life; the 2016 show will again demonstrate the many and varied talents of our members.
Exhibitors’ work ranges from paintings, prints, collages, etchings and photographs to wall hangings. Throughout the exhibition, one of the artists will be on hand to welcome visitors to the Highgate Gallery and will be pleased to discuss the pieces on view. All works will be offered for sale.
Tuesday-Friday 13:00-17:00
Saturday 11:00-16:00
Sunday 11:00-17:00
Closed Monday
Prints, oils, pastels, photography and more … the talents of HLSI members are on show.
Highgate Literary & Scientific Institution members – professional artists and accomplished amateurs alike – will display their work during the eighth Members’ Art Exhibition at the Highgate Gallery from 5 to 18 February 2016. Previous exhibitions, starting in 1996, were indicative of Highgate’s vibrant artistic life; the 2016 show will again demonstrate the many and varied talents of our members.
Exhibitors’ work ranges from paintings, prints, collages, etchings and photographs to wall hangings. Throughout the exhibition, one of the artists will be on hand to welcome visitors to the Highgate Gallery and will be pleased to discuss the pieces on view. All works will be offered for sale.
Tuesday-Friday 13:00-17:00
Saturday 11:00-16:00
Sunday 11:00-17:00
Closed Monday
Prints, oils, pastels, photography and more … the talents of HLSI members are on show.
Highgate Literary & Scientific Institution members – professional artists and accomplished amateurs alike – will display their work during the eighth Members’ Art Exhibition at the Highgate Gallery from 5 to 18 February 2016. Previous exhibitions, starting in 1996, were indicative of Highgate’s vibrant artistic life; the 2016 show will again demonstrate the many and varied talents of our members.
Exhibitors’ work ranges from paintings, prints, collages, etchings and photographs to wall hangings. Throughout the exhibition, one of the artists will be on hand to welcome visitors to the Highgate Gallery and will be pleased to discuss the pieces on view. All works will be offered for sale.
Tuesday-Friday 13:00-17:00
Saturday 11:00-16:00
Sunday 11:00-17:00
Closed Monday
Prints, oils, pastels, photography and more … the talents of HLSI members are on show.
Highgate Literary & Scientific Institution members – professional artists and accomplished amateurs alike – will display their work during the eighth Members’ Art Exhibition at the Highgate Gallery from 5 to 18 February 2016. Previous exhibitions, starting in 1996, were indicative of Highgate’s vibrant artistic life; the 2016 show will again demonstrate the many and varied talents of our members.
Exhibitors’ work ranges from paintings, prints, collages, etchings and photographs to wall hangings. Throughout the exhibition, one of the artists will be on hand to welcome visitors to the Highgate Gallery and will be pleased to discuss the pieces on view. All works will be offered for sale.
Tuesday-Friday 13:00-17:00
Saturday 11:00-16:00
Sunday 11:00-17:00
Closed Monday
Bring your bear along to meet Hugless Douglas, lovable creation of children’s book writer and illustrator David Melling, at this year’s Children’s Book Fair on Saturday 5th March at HLSI .
There will be secondhand books and home-made cakes and biscuits for sale, children’s activities, face-painting, and competitions.
Muswell Hill Children’s Bookshop will be here selling Hugless Douglas books.
The discussion will be led by Dr Joseph Barnard of Barnard Microsystems
Paintings by Ron Delavigne 1919-2013
Curated by Jason Sumray
15-28 April 2016
Ron Delavigne’s extraordinary images were defined by his experiences as a Far East POW from 1942 to 1945. Trained at St Martins, his paintings always had a strong brooding mood and he was highly regarded by his contemporaries for his fine draughtsmanship and sensitivity. This exhibition concentrates on his late work which is characterised by its increasingly spare and focussed imagery. What finally surfaced from deep within were haunting, inexplicable images that spoke indirectly. Not specifically ‘war paintings’, but images that had emerged from an artist who had been forced to look at the core of things and has witnessed humanity stripped down and laid bare.
Despite some early success with a solo show at the Alwin Gallery, London and his work collected by some prominent figures, Delavigne shunned the art world and preferred a quiet, almost hermitic existence, his paintings known only to a few. This is the first time these works have been seen in public.
A reccurring theme in Delavigne’s work was his haunting images of owls perched on a post. It was, perhaps, an image that stood in for the suppressed memory of experience. At the age of 79, he transformed it, for one time only, to a decapitated head on a stick with flies buzzing around: the gruesome punishment he had witnessed in Changi jail. The painting ‘The Time of Silence’ is now in the Imperial War Museum Collection. A full size reproduction will form part of the Highgate show. Visitors to the exhibition will be also be able to listen to Delavigne’s moving testament recorded for the Imperial War Museum in 1998.
Delavigne’s troubled imagery was rendered in the English romantic landscape tradition to which he had his stylistic roots. Although certainly influenced by Goya’s etchings and Black Paintings, Delavigne was never an overt expressionist. It seems that he couldn’t help but instil his disturbing images with a quiet English poetry. The potent mix of subtle lyricism with stark imagery is compelling. There is an exhilarating mix of delicacy and rawness, beauty and bleakness.
Ron Delavigne lived his whole life in Highgate and died aged 94 in 2013. His gravestone, in the form of an artist’s palette, is in Highgate Cemetery. It is, of course, entirely appropriate to hold this exhibition in Highgate, where his widow Rita Delavigne continues to live.
A catalogue will accompany the show.
To coincide with ‘Paintings of Ron Delavigne 1919 -2013’ the Gallery is excited to host a Discussion Event on Sunday 17 April, 5-7pm, exploring the theme of Art, War and the Role of Memory. We are delighted to have as guest panellists Richard Cork: art historian, critic, broadcaster and exhibition curator, (‘A Bitter Truth: Avant-garde and the Great War: book and accompanying exhibition at RA)
Dr Glenn Sujo: writer, artist, educator and curator (‘Legacies of Silence: The Visual Arts and Holocaust Memory:’ book and accompanying exhibition at Imperial War Museum).
John Keane: painter, Gulf War artist, father was POW on Burma-Siam railway.
Albyn Leah Hall: novelist and psychotherapist. It will be chaired by Estelle Lovatt: FRSA – Independent art critic & art history Lecturer BBC Radio & TV.
Tickets: £10 on the door (£5 HLSI members) or reserve in advance on 020 8340 3343 or at admin@hlsi.net
Gallery open Tuesday-Friday 1-5pm, Saturday 11am-4pm, Sunday 11am-5pm; closed Mondays.
Paintings by Ron Delavigne 1919-2013
Curated by Jason Sumray
15-28 April 2016
Ron Delavigne’s extraordinary images were defined by his experiences as a Far East POW from 1942 to 1945. Trained at St Martins, his paintings always had a strong brooding mood and he was highly regarded by his contemporaries for his fine draughtsmanship and sensitivity. This exhibition concentrates on his late work which is characterised by its increasingly spare and focussed imagery. What finally surfaced from deep within were haunting, inexplicable images that spoke indirectly. Not specifically ‘war paintings’, but images that had emerged from an artist who had been forced to look at the core of things and has witnessed humanity stripped down and laid bare.
Despite some early success with a solo show at the Alwin Gallery, London and his work collected by some prominent figures, Delavigne shunned the art world and preferred a quiet, almost hermitic existence, his paintings known only to a few. This is the first time these works have been seen in public.
A reccurring theme in Delavigne’s work was his haunting images of owls perched on a post. It was, perhaps, an image that stood in for the suppressed memory of experience. At the age of 79, he transformed it, for one time only, to a decapitated head on a stick with flies buzzing around: the gruesome punishment he had witnessed in Changi jail. The painting ‘The Time of Silence’ is now in the Imperial War Museum Collection. A full size reproduction will form part of the Highgate show. Visitors to the exhibition will be also be able to listen to Delavigne’s moving testament recorded for the Imperial War Museum in 1998.
Delavigne’s troubled imagery was rendered in the English romantic landscape tradition to which he had his stylistic roots. Although certainly influenced by Goya’s etchings and Black Paintings, Delavigne was never an overt expressionist. It seems that he couldn’t help but instil his disturbing images with a quiet English poetry. The potent mix of subtle lyricism with stark imagery is compelling. There is an exhilarating mix of delicacy and rawness, beauty and bleakness.
Ron Delavigne lived his whole life in Highgate and died aged 94 in 2013. His gravestone, in the form of an artist’s palette, is in Highgate Cemetery. It is, of course, entirely appropriate to hold this exhibition in Highgate, where his widow Rita Delavigne continues to live.
A catalogue will accompany the show.
To coincide with ‘Paintings of Ron Delavigne 1919 -2013’ the Gallery is excited to host a Discussion Event on Sunday 17 April, 5-7pm, exploring the theme of Art, War and the Role of Memory. We are delighted to have as guest panellists Richard Cork: art historian, critic, broadcaster and exhibition curator, (‘A Bitter Truth: Avant-garde and the Great War: book and accompanying exhibition at RA)
Dr Glenn Sujo: writer, artist, educator and curator (‘Legacies of Silence: The Visual Arts and Holocaust Memory:’ book and accompanying exhibition at Imperial War Museum).
John Keane: painter, Gulf War artist, father was POW on Burma-Siam railway.
Albyn Leah Hall: novelist and psychotherapist. It will be chaired by Estelle Lovatt: FRSA – Independent art critic & art history Lecturer BBC Radio & TV.
Tickets: £10 on the door (£5 HLSI members) or reserve in advance on 020 8340 3343 or at admin@hlsi.net
Gallery open Tuesday-Friday 1-5pm, Saturday 11am-4pm, Sunday 11am-5pm; closed Mondays.
Paintings by Ron Delavigne 1919-2013
Curated by Jason Sumray
15-28 April 2016
Ron Delavigne’s extraordinary images were defined by his experiences as a Far East POW from 1942 to 1945. Trained at St Martins, his paintings always had a strong brooding mood and he was highly regarded by his contemporaries for his fine draughtsmanship and sensitivity. This exhibition concentrates on his late work which is characterised by its increasingly spare and focussed imagery. What finally surfaced from deep within were haunting, inexplicable images that spoke indirectly. Not specifically ‘war paintings’, but images that had emerged from an artist who had been forced to look at the core of things and has witnessed humanity stripped down and laid bare.
Despite some early success with a solo show at the Alwin Gallery, London and his work collected by some prominent figures, Delavigne shunned the art world and preferred a quiet, almost hermitic existence, his paintings known only to a few. This is the first time these works have been seen in public.
A reccurring theme in Delavigne’s work was his haunting images of owls perched on a post. It was, perhaps, an image that stood in for the suppressed memory of experience. At the age of 79, he transformed it, for one time only, to a decapitated head on a stick with flies buzzing around: the gruesome punishment he had witnessed in Changi jail. The painting ‘The Time of Silence’ is now in the Imperial War Museum Collection. A full size reproduction will form part of the Highgate show. Visitors to the exhibition will be also be able to listen to Delavigne’s moving testament recorded for the Imperial War Museum in 1998.
Delavigne’s troubled imagery was rendered in the English romantic landscape tradition to which he had his stylistic roots. Although certainly influenced by Goya’s etchings and Black Paintings, Delavigne was never an overt expressionist. It seems that he couldn’t help but instil his disturbing images with a quiet English poetry. The potent mix of subtle lyricism with stark imagery is compelling. There is an exhilarating mix of delicacy and rawness, beauty and bleakness.
Ron Delavigne lived his whole life in Highgate and died aged 94 in 2013. His gravestone, in the form of an artist’s palette, is in Highgate Cemetery. It is, of course, entirely appropriate to hold this exhibition in Highgate, where his widow Rita Delavigne continues to live.
A catalogue will accompany the show.
To coincide with ‘Paintings of Ron Delavigne 1919 -2013’ the Gallery is excited to host a Discussion Event on Sunday 17 April, 5-7pm, exploring the theme of Art, War and the Role of Memory. We are delighted to have as guest panellists Richard Cork: art historian, critic, broadcaster and exhibition curator, (‘A Bitter Truth: Avant-garde and the Great War: book and accompanying exhibition at RA)
Dr Glenn Sujo: writer, artist, educator and curator (‘Legacies of Silence: The Visual Arts and Holocaust Memory:’ book and accompanying exhibition at Imperial War Museum).
John Keane: painter, Gulf War artist, father was POW on Burma-Siam railway.
Albyn Leah Hall: novelist and psychotherapist. It will be chaired by Estelle Lovatt: FRSA – Independent art critic & art history Lecturer BBC Radio & TV.
Tickets: £10 on the door (£5 HLSI members) or reserve in advance on 020 8340 3343 or at admin@hlsi.net
Gallery open Tuesday-Friday 1-5pm, Saturday 11am-4pm, Sunday 11am-5pm; closed Mondays.
To coincide with the exhibition ‘Paintings of Ron Delavigne 1919 -2013’ Highgate Gallery is excited to host a Discussion Event on Sunday 17 April, 5-7pm, exploring the theme of Art, War and the Role of Memory. We are delighted to have as guest panellists Richard Cork: art historian, critic, broadcaster and exhibition curator, (‘A Bitter Truth: Avant-garde and the Great War: book and accompanying exhibition at RA)
Dr Glenn Sujo: writer, artist, educator and curator (‘Legacies of Silence: The Visual Arts and Holocaust Memory:’ book and accompanying exhibition at Imperial War Museum).
John Keane: painter, Gulf War artist, father was POW on Burma-Siam railway.
Albyn Leah Hall: novelist and psychotherapist. It will be chaired by Estelle Lovatt: FRSA – Independent art critic & art history Lecturer BBC Radio & TV.
Tickets: £10 on the door (£5 HLSI members) or reserve in advance on 020 8340 3343 or at admin@hlsi.net
Paintings by Ron Delavigne 1919-2013
Curated by Jason Sumray
15-28 April 2016
Ron Delavigne’s extraordinary images were defined by his experiences as a Far East POW from 1942 to 1945. Trained at St Martins, his paintings always had a strong brooding mood and he was highly regarded by his contemporaries for his fine draughtsmanship and sensitivity. This exhibition concentrates on his late work which is characterised by its increasingly spare and focussed imagery. What finally surfaced from deep within were haunting, inexplicable images that spoke indirectly. Not specifically ‘war paintings’, but images that had emerged from an artist who had been forced to look at the core of things and has witnessed humanity stripped down and laid bare.
Despite some early success with a solo show at the Alwin Gallery, London and his work collected by some prominent figures, Delavigne shunned the art world and preferred a quiet, almost hermitic existence, his paintings known only to a few. This is the first time these works have been seen in public.
A reccurring theme in Delavigne’s work was his haunting images of owls perched on a post. It was, perhaps, an image that stood in for the suppressed memory of experience. At the age of 79, he transformed it, for one time only, to a decapitated head on a stick with flies buzzing around: the gruesome punishment he had witnessed in Changi jail. The painting ‘The Time of Silence’ is now in the Imperial War Museum Collection. A full size reproduction will form part of the Highgate show. Visitors to the exhibition will be also be able to listen to Delavigne’s moving testament recorded for the Imperial War Museum in 1998.
Delavigne’s troubled imagery was rendered in the English romantic landscape tradition to which he had his stylistic roots. Although certainly influenced by Goya’s etchings and Black Paintings, Delavigne was never an overt expressionist. It seems that he couldn’t help but instil his disturbing images with a quiet English poetry. The potent mix of subtle lyricism with stark imagery is compelling. There is an exhilarating mix of delicacy and rawness, beauty and bleakness.
Ron Delavigne lived his whole life in Highgate and died aged 94 in 2013. His gravestone, in the form of an artist’s palette, is in Highgate Cemetery. It is, of course, entirely appropriate to hold this exhibition in Highgate, where his widow Rita Delavigne continues to live.
A catalogue will accompany the show.
To coincide with ‘Paintings of Ron Delavigne 1919 -2013’ the Gallery is excited to host a Discussion Event on Sunday 17 April, 5-7pm, exploring the theme of Art, War and the Role of Memory. We are delighted to have as guest panellists Richard Cork: art historian, critic, broadcaster and exhibition curator, (‘A Bitter Truth: Avant-garde and the Great War: book and accompanying exhibition at RA)
Dr Glenn Sujo: writer, artist, educator and curator (‘Legacies of Silence: The Visual Arts and Holocaust Memory:’ book and accompanying exhibition at Imperial War Museum).
John Keane: painter, Gulf War artist, father was POW on Burma-Siam railway.
Albyn Leah Hall: novelist and psychotherapist. It will be chaired by Estelle Lovatt: FRSA – Independent art critic & art history Lecturer BBC Radio & TV.
Tickets: £10 on the door (£5 HLSI members) or reserve in advance on 020 8340 3343 or at admin@hlsi.net
Gallery open Tuesday-Friday 1-5pm, Saturday 11am-4pm, Sunday 11am-5pm; closed Mondays.
Paintings by Ron Delavigne 1919-2013
Curated by Jason Sumray
15-28 April 2016
Ron Delavigne’s extraordinary images were defined by his experiences as a Far East POW from 1942 to 1945. Trained at St Martins, his paintings always had a strong brooding mood and he was highly regarded by his contemporaries for his fine draughtsmanship and sensitivity. This exhibition concentrates on his late work which is characterised by its increasingly spare and focussed imagery. What finally surfaced from deep within were haunting, inexplicable images that spoke indirectly. Not specifically ‘war paintings’, but images that had emerged from an artist who had been forced to look at the core of things and has witnessed humanity stripped down and laid bare.
Despite some early success with a solo show at the Alwin Gallery, London and his work collected by some prominent figures, Delavigne shunned the art world and preferred a quiet, almost hermitic existence, his paintings known only to a few. This is the first time these works have been seen in public.
A reccurring theme in Delavigne’s work was his haunting images of owls perched on a post. It was, perhaps, an image that stood in for the suppressed memory of experience. At the age of 79, he transformed it, for one time only, to a decapitated head on a stick with flies buzzing around: the gruesome punishment he had witnessed in Changi jail. The painting ‘The Time of Silence’ is now in the Imperial War Museum Collection. A full size reproduction will form part of the Highgate show. Visitors to the exhibition will be also be able to listen to Delavigne’s moving testament recorded for the Imperial War Museum in 1998.
Delavigne’s troubled imagery was rendered in the English romantic landscape tradition to which he had his stylistic roots. Although certainly influenced by Goya’s etchings and Black Paintings, Delavigne was never an overt expressionist. It seems that he couldn’t help but instil his disturbing images with a quiet English poetry. The potent mix of subtle lyricism with stark imagery is compelling. There is an exhilarating mix of delicacy and rawness, beauty and bleakness.
Ron Delavigne lived his whole life in Highgate and died aged 94 in 2013. His gravestone, in the form of an artist’s palette, is in Highgate Cemetery. It is, of course, entirely appropriate to hold this exhibition in Highgate, where his widow Rita Delavigne continues to live.
A catalogue will accompany the show.
To coincide with ‘Paintings of Ron Delavigne 1919 -2013’ the Gallery is excited to host a Discussion Event on Sunday 17 April, 5-7pm, exploring the theme of Art, War and the Role of Memory. We are delighted to have as guest panellists Richard Cork: art historian, critic, broadcaster and exhibition curator, (‘A Bitter Truth: Avant-garde and the Great War: book and accompanying exhibition at RA)
Dr Glenn Sujo: writer, artist, educator and curator (‘Legacies of Silence: The Visual Arts and Holocaust Memory:’ book and accompanying exhibition at Imperial War Museum).
John Keane: painter, Gulf War artist, father was POW on Burma-Siam railway.
Albyn Leah Hall: novelist and psychotherapist. It will be chaired by Estelle Lovatt: FRSA – Independent art critic & art history Lecturer BBC Radio & TV.
Tickets: £10 on the door (£5 HLSI members) or reserve in advance on 020 8340 3343 or at admin@hlsi.net
Gallery open Tuesday-Friday 1-5pm, Saturday 11am-4pm, Sunday 11am-5pm; closed Mondays.
Paintings by Ron Delavigne 1919-2013
Curated by Jason Sumray
15-28 April 2016
Ron Delavigne’s extraordinary images were defined by his experiences as a Far East POW from 1942 to 1945. Trained at St Martins, his paintings always had a strong brooding mood and he was highly regarded by his contemporaries for his fine draughtsmanship and sensitivity. This exhibition concentrates on his late work which is characterised by its increasingly spare and focussed imagery. What finally surfaced from deep within were haunting, inexplicable images that spoke indirectly. Not specifically ‘war paintings’, but images that had emerged from an artist who had been forced to look at the core of things and has witnessed humanity stripped down and laid bare.
Despite some early success with a solo show at the Alwin Gallery, London and his work collected by some prominent figures, Delavigne shunned the art world and preferred a quiet, almost hermitic existence, his paintings known only to a few. This is the first time these works have been seen in public.
A reccurring theme in Delavigne’s work was his haunting images of owls perched on a post. It was, perhaps, an image that stood in for the suppressed memory of experience. At the age of 79, he transformed it, for one time only, to a decapitated head on a stick with flies buzzing around: the gruesome punishment he had witnessed in Changi jail. The painting ‘The Time of Silence’ is now in the Imperial War Museum Collection. A full size reproduction will form part of the Highgate show. Visitors to the exhibition will be also be able to listen to Delavigne’s moving testament recorded for the Imperial War Museum in 1998.
Delavigne’s troubled imagery was rendered in the English romantic landscape tradition to which he had his stylistic roots. Although certainly influenced by Goya’s etchings and Black Paintings, Delavigne was never an overt expressionist. It seems that he couldn’t help but instil his disturbing images with a quiet English poetry. The potent mix of subtle lyricism with stark imagery is compelling. There is an exhilarating mix of delicacy and rawness, beauty and bleakness.
Ron Delavigne lived his whole life in Highgate and died aged 94 in 2013. His gravestone, in the form of an artist’s palette, is in Highgate Cemetery. It is, of course, entirely appropriate to hold this exhibition in Highgate, where his widow Rita Delavigne continues to live.
A catalogue will accompany the show.
To coincide with ‘Paintings of Ron Delavigne 1919 -2013’ the Gallery is excited to host a Discussion Event on Sunday 17 April, 5-7pm, exploring the theme of Art, War and the Role of Memory. We are delighted to have as guest panellists Richard Cork: art historian, critic, broadcaster and exhibition curator, (‘A Bitter Truth: Avant-garde and the Great War: book and accompanying exhibition at RA)
Dr Glenn Sujo: writer, artist, educator and curator (‘Legacies of Silence: The Visual Arts and Holocaust Memory:’ book and accompanying exhibition at Imperial War Museum).
John Keane: painter, Gulf War artist, father was POW on Burma-Siam railway.
Albyn Leah Hall: novelist and psychotherapist. It will be chaired by Estelle Lovatt: FRSA – Independent art critic & art history Lecturer BBC Radio & TV.
Tickets: £10 on the door (£5 HLSI members) or reserve in advance on 020 8340 3343 or at admin@hlsi.net
Gallery open Tuesday-Friday 1-5pm, Saturday 11am-4pm, Sunday 11am-5pm; closed Mondays.
Paintings by Ron Delavigne 1919-2013
Curated by Jason Sumray
15-28 April 2016
Ron Delavigne’s extraordinary images were defined by his experiences as a Far East POW from 1942 to 1945. Trained at St Martins, his paintings always had a strong brooding mood and he was highly regarded by his contemporaries for his fine draughtsmanship and sensitivity. This exhibition concentrates on his late work which is characterised by its increasingly spare and focussed imagery. What finally surfaced from deep within were haunting, inexplicable images that spoke indirectly. Not specifically ‘war paintings’, but images that had emerged from an artist who had been forced to look at the core of things and has witnessed humanity stripped down and laid bare.
Despite some early success with a solo show at the Alwin Gallery, London and his work collected by some prominent figures, Delavigne shunned the art world and preferred a quiet, almost hermitic existence, his paintings known only to a few. This is the first time these works have been seen in public.
A reccurring theme in Delavigne’s work was his haunting images of owls perched on a post. It was, perhaps, an image that stood in for the suppressed memory of experience. At the age of 79, he transformed it, for one time only, to a decapitated head on a stick with flies buzzing around: the gruesome punishment he had witnessed in Changi jail. The painting ‘The Time of Silence’ is now in the Imperial War Museum Collection. A full size reproduction will form part of the Highgate show. Visitors to the exhibition will be also be able to listen to Delavigne’s moving testament recorded for the Imperial War Museum in 1998.
Delavigne’s troubled imagery was rendered in the English romantic landscape tradition to which he had his stylistic roots. Although certainly influenced by Goya’s etchings and Black Paintings, Delavigne was never an overt expressionist. It seems that he couldn’t help but instil his disturbing images with a quiet English poetry. The potent mix of subtle lyricism with stark imagery is compelling. There is an exhilarating mix of delicacy and rawness, beauty and bleakness.
Ron Delavigne lived his whole life in Highgate and died aged 94 in 2013. His gravestone, in the form of an artist’s palette, is in Highgate Cemetery. It is, of course, entirely appropriate to hold this exhibition in Highgate, where his widow Rita Delavigne continues to live.
A catalogue will accompany the show.
To coincide with ‘Paintings of Ron Delavigne 1919 -2013’ the Gallery is excited to host a Discussion Event on Sunday 17 April, 5-7pm, exploring the theme of Art, War and the Role of Memory. We are delighted to have as guest panellists Richard Cork: art historian, critic, broadcaster and exhibition curator, (‘A Bitter Truth: Avant-garde and the Great War: book and accompanying exhibition at RA)
Dr Glenn Sujo: writer, artist, educator and curator (‘Legacies of Silence: The Visual Arts and Holocaust Memory:’ book and accompanying exhibition at Imperial War Museum).
John Keane: painter, Gulf War artist, father was POW on Burma-Siam railway.
Albyn Leah Hall: novelist and psychotherapist. It will be chaired by Estelle Lovatt: FRSA – Independent art critic & art history Lecturer BBC Radio & TV.
Tickets: £10 on the door (£5 HLSI members) or reserve in advance on 020 8340 3343 or at admin@hlsi.net
Gallery open Tuesday-Friday 1-5pm, Saturday 11am-4pm, Sunday 11am-5pm; closed Mondays.
Paintings by Ron Delavigne 1919-2013
Curated by Jason Sumray
15-28 April 2016
Ron Delavigne’s extraordinary images were defined by his experiences as a Far East POW from 1942 to 1945. Trained at St Martins, his paintings always had a strong brooding mood and he was highly regarded by his contemporaries for his fine draughtsmanship and sensitivity. This exhibition concentrates on his late work which is characterised by its increasingly spare and focussed imagery. What finally surfaced from deep within were haunting, inexplicable images that spoke indirectly. Not specifically ‘war paintings’, but images that had emerged from an artist who had been forced to look at the core of things and has witnessed humanity stripped down and laid bare.
Despite some early success with a solo show at the Alwin Gallery, London and his work collected by some prominent figures, Delavigne shunned the art world and preferred a quiet, almost hermitic existence, his paintings known only to a few. This is the first time these works have been seen in public.
A reccurring theme in Delavigne’s work was his haunting images of owls perched on a post. It was, perhaps, an image that stood in for the suppressed memory of experience. At the age of 79, he transformed it, for one time only, to a decapitated head on a stick with flies buzzing around: the gruesome punishment he had witnessed in Changi jail. The painting ‘The Time of Silence’ is now in the Imperial War Museum Collection. A full size reproduction will form part of the Highgate show. Visitors to the exhibition will be also be able to listen to Delavigne’s moving testament recorded for the Imperial War Museum in 1998.
Delavigne’s troubled imagery was rendered in the English romantic landscape tradition to which he had his stylistic roots. Although certainly influenced by Goya’s etchings and Black Paintings, Delavigne was never an overt expressionist. It seems that he couldn’t help but instil his disturbing images with a quiet English poetry. The potent mix of subtle lyricism with stark imagery is compelling. There is an exhilarating mix of delicacy and rawness, beauty and bleakness.
Ron Delavigne lived his whole life in Highgate and died aged 94 in 2013. His gravestone, in the form of an artist’s palette, is in Highgate Cemetery. It is, of course, entirely appropriate to hold this exhibition in Highgate, where his widow Rita Delavigne continues to live.
A catalogue will accompany the show.
To coincide with ‘Paintings of Ron Delavigne 1919 -2013’ the Gallery is excited to host a Discussion Event on Sunday 17 April, 5-7pm, exploring the theme of Art, War and the Role of Memory. We are delighted to have as guest panellists Richard Cork: art historian, critic, broadcaster and exhibition curator, (‘A Bitter Truth: Avant-garde and the Great War: book and accompanying exhibition at RA)
Dr Glenn Sujo: writer, artist, educator and curator (‘Legacies of Silence: The Visual Arts and Holocaust Memory:’ book and accompanying exhibition at Imperial War Museum).
John Keane: painter, Gulf War artist, father was POW on Burma-Siam railway.
Albyn Leah Hall: novelist and psychotherapist. It will be chaired by Estelle Lovatt: FRSA – Independent art critic & art history Lecturer BBC Radio & TV.
Tickets: £10 on the door (£5 HLSI members) or reserve in advance on 020 8340 3343 or at admin@hlsi.net
Gallery open Tuesday-Friday 1-5pm, Saturday 11am-4pm, Sunday 11am-5pm; closed Mondays.
Paintings by Ron Delavigne 1919-2013
Curated by Jason Sumray
15-28 April 2016
Ron Delavigne’s extraordinary images were defined by his experiences as a Far East POW from 1942 to 1945. Trained at St Martins, his paintings always had a strong brooding mood and he was highly regarded by his contemporaries for his fine draughtsmanship and sensitivity. This exhibition concentrates on his late work which is characterised by its increasingly spare and focussed imagery. What finally surfaced from deep within were haunting, inexplicable images that spoke indirectly. Not specifically ‘war paintings’, but images that had emerged from an artist who had been forced to look at the core of things and has witnessed humanity stripped down and laid bare.
Despite some early success with a solo show at the Alwin Gallery, London and his work collected by some prominent figures, Delavigne shunned the art world and preferred a quiet, almost hermitic existence, his paintings known only to a few. This is the first time these works have been seen in public.
A reccurring theme in Delavigne’s work was his haunting images of owls perched on a post. It was, perhaps, an image that stood in for the suppressed memory of experience. At the age of 79, he transformed it, for one time only, to a decapitated head on a stick with flies buzzing around: the gruesome punishment he had witnessed in Changi jail. The painting ‘The Time of Silence’ is now in the Imperial War Museum Collection. A full size reproduction will form part of the Highgate show. Visitors to the exhibition will be also be able to listen to Delavigne’s moving testament recorded for the Imperial War Museum in 1998.
Delavigne’s troubled imagery was rendered in the English romantic landscape tradition to which he had his stylistic roots. Although certainly influenced by Goya’s etchings and Black Paintings, Delavigne was never an overt expressionist. It seems that he couldn’t help but instil his disturbing images with a quiet English poetry. The potent mix of subtle lyricism with stark imagery is compelling. There is an exhilarating mix of delicacy and rawness, beauty and bleakness.
Ron Delavigne lived his whole life in Highgate and died aged 94 in 2013. His gravestone, in the form of an artist’s palette, is in Highgate Cemetery. It is, of course, entirely appropriate to hold this exhibition in Highgate, where his widow Rita Delavigne continues to live.
A catalogue will accompany the show.
To coincide with ‘Paintings of Ron Delavigne 1919 -2013’ the Gallery is excited to host a Discussion Event on Sunday 17 April, 5-7pm, exploring the theme of Art, War and the Role of Memory. We are delighted to have as guest panellists Richard Cork: art historian, critic, broadcaster and exhibition curator, (‘A Bitter Truth: Avant-garde and the Great War: book and accompanying exhibition at RA)
Dr Glenn Sujo: writer, artist, educator and curator (‘Legacies of Silence: The Visual Arts and Holocaust Memory:’ book and accompanying exhibition at Imperial War Museum).
John Keane: painter, Gulf War artist, father was POW on Burma-Siam railway.
Albyn Leah Hall: novelist and psychotherapist. It will be chaired by Estelle Lovatt: FRSA – Independent art critic & art history Lecturer BBC Radio & TV.
Tickets: £10 on the door (£5 HLSI members) or reserve in advance on 020 8340 3343 or at admin@hlsi.net
Gallery open Tuesday-Friday 1-5pm, Saturday 11am-4pm, Sunday 11am-5pm; closed Mondays.
Paintings by Ron Delavigne 1919-2013
Curated by Jason Sumray
15-28 April 2016
Ron Delavigne’s extraordinary images were defined by his experiences as a Far East POW from 1942 to 1945. Trained at St Martins, his paintings always had a strong brooding mood and he was highly regarded by his contemporaries for his fine draughtsmanship and sensitivity. This exhibition concentrates on his late work which is characterised by its increasingly spare and focussed imagery. What finally surfaced from deep within were haunting, inexplicable images that spoke indirectly. Not specifically ‘war paintings’, but images that had emerged from an artist who had been forced to look at the core of things and has witnessed humanity stripped down and laid bare.
Despite some early success with a solo show at the Alwin Gallery, London and his work collected by some prominent figures, Delavigne shunned the art world and preferred a quiet, almost hermitic existence, his paintings known only to a few. This is the first time these works have been seen in public.
A reccurring theme in Delavigne’s work was his haunting images of owls perched on a post. It was, perhaps, an image that stood in for the suppressed memory of experience. At the age of 79, he transformed it, for one time only, to a decapitated head on a stick with flies buzzing around: the gruesome punishment he had witnessed in Changi jail. The painting ‘The Time of Silence’ is now in the Imperial War Museum Collection. A full size reproduction will form part of the Highgate show. Visitors to the exhibition will be also be able to listen to Delavigne’s moving testament recorded for the Imperial War Museum in 1998.
Delavigne’s troubled imagery was rendered in the English romantic landscape tradition to which he had his stylistic roots. Although certainly influenced by Goya’s etchings and Black Paintings, Delavigne was never an overt expressionist. It seems that he couldn’t help but instil his disturbing images with a quiet English poetry. The potent mix of subtle lyricism with stark imagery is compelling. There is an exhilarating mix of delicacy and rawness, beauty and bleakness.
Ron Delavigne lived his whole life in Highgate and died aged 94 in 2013. His gravestone, in the form of an artist’s palette, is in Highgate Cemetery. It is, of course, entirely appropriate to hold this exhibition in Highgate, where his widow Rita Delavigne continues to live.
A catalogue will accompany the show.
To coincide with ‘Paintings of Ron Delavigne 1919 -2013’ the Gallery is excited to host a Discussion Event on Sunday 17 April, 5-7pm, exploring the theme of Art, War and the Role of Memory. We are delighted to have as guest panellists Richard Cork: art historian, critic, broadcaster and exhibition curator, (‘A Bitter Truth: Avant-garde and the Great War: book and accompanying exhibition at RA)
Dr Glenn Sujo: writer, artist, educator and curator (‘Legacies of Silence: The Visual Arts and Holocaust Memory:’ book and accompanying exhibition at Imperial War Museum).
John Keane: painter, Gulf War artist, father was POW on Burma-Siam railway.
Albyn Leah Hall: novelist and psychotherapist. It will be chaired by Estelle Lovatt: FRSA – Independent art critic & art history Lecturer BBC Radio & TV.
Tickets: £10 on the door (£5 HLSI members) or reserve in advance on 020 8340 3343 or at admin@hlsi.net
Gallery open Tuesday-Friday 1-5pm, Saturday 11am-4pm, Sunday 11am-5pm; closed Mondays.
Paintings by Ron Delavigne 1919-2013
Curated by Jason Sumray
15-28 April 2016
Ron Delavigne’s extraordinary images were defined by his experiences as a Far East POW from 1942 to 1945. Trained at St Martins, his paintings always had a strong brooding mood and he was highly regarded by his contemporaries for his fine draughtsmanship and sensitivity. This exhibition concentrates on his late work which is characterised by its increasingly spare and focussed imagery. What finally surfaced from deep within were haunting, inexplicable images that spoke indirectly. Not specifically ‘war paintings’, but images that had emerged from an artist who had been forced to look at the core of things and has witnessed humanity stripped down and laid bare.
Despite some early success with a solo show at the Alwin Gallery, London and his work collected by some prominent figures, Delavigne shunned the art world and preferred a quiet, almost hermitic existence, his paintings known only to a few. This is the first time these works have been seen in public.
A reccurring theme in Delavigne’s work was his haunting images of owls perched on a post. It was, perhaps, an image that stood in for the suppressed memory of experience. At the age of 79, he transformed it, for one time only, to a decapitated head on a stick with flies buzzing around: the gruesome punishment he had witnessed in Changi jail. The painting ‘The Time of Silence’ is now in the Imperial War Museum Collection. A full size reproduction will form part of the Highgate show. Visitors to the exhibition will be also be able to listen to Delavigne’s moving testament recorded for the Imperial War Museum in 1998.
Delavigne’s troubled imagery was rendered in the English romantic landscape tradition to which he had his stylistic roots. Although certainly influenced by Goya’s etchings and Black Paintings, Delavigne was never an overt expressionist. It seems that he couldn’t help but instil his disturbing images with a quiet English poetry. The potent mix of subtle lyricism with stark imagery is compelling. There is an exhilarating mix of delicacy and rawness, beauty and bleakness.
Ron Delavigne lived his whole life in Highgate and died aged 94 in 2013. His gravestone, in the form of an artist’s palette, is in Highgate Cemetery. It is, of course, entirely appropriate to hold this exhibition in Highgate, where his widow Rita Delavigne continues to live.
A catalogue will accompany the show.
To coincide with ‘Paintings of Ron Delavigne 1919 -2013’ the Gallery is excited to host a Discussion Event on Sunday 17 April, 5-7pm, exploring the theme of Art, War and the Role of Memory. We are delighted to have as guest panellists Richard Cork: art historian, critic, broadcaster and exhibition curator, (‘A Bitter Truth: Avant-garde and the Great War: book and accompanying exhibition at RA)
Dr Glenn Sujo: writer, artist, educator and curator (‘Legacies of Silence: The Visual Arts and Holocaust Memory:’ book and accompanying exhibition at Imperial War Museum).
John Keane: painter, Gulf War artist, father was POW on Burma-Siam railway.
Albyn Leah Hall: novelist and psychotherapist. It will be chaired by Estelle Lovatt: FRSA – Independent art critic & art history Lecturer BBC Radio & TV.
Tickets: £10 on the door (£5 HLSI members) or reserve in advance on 020 8340 3343 or at admin@hlsi.net
Gallery open Tuesday-Friday 1-5pm, Saturday 11am-4pm, Sunday 11am-5pm; closed Mondays.
Paintings by Ron Delavigne 1919-2013
Curated by Jason Sumray
15-28 April 2016
Ron Delavigne’s extraordinary images were defined by his experiences as a Far East POW from 1942 to 1945. Trained at St Martins, his paintings always had a strong brooding mood and he was highly regarded by his contemporaries for his fine draughtsmanship and sensitivity. This exhibition concentrates on his late work which is characterised by its increasingly spare and focussed imagery. What finally surfaced from deep within were haunting, inexplicable images that spoke indirectly. Not specifically ‘war paintings’, but images that had emerged from an artist who had been forced to look at the core of things and has witnessed humanity stripped down and laid bare.
Despite some early success with a solo show at the Alwin Gallery, London and his work collected by some prominent figures, Delavigne shunned the art world and preferred a quiet, almost hermitic existence, his paintings known only to a few. This is the first time these works have been seen in public.
A reccurring theme in Delavigne’s work was his haunting images of owls perched on a post. It was, perhaps, an image that stood in for the suppressed memory of experience. At the age of 79, he transformed it, for one time only, to a decapitated head on a stick with flies buzzing around: the gruesome punishment he had witnessed in Changi jail. The painting ‘The Time of Silence’ is now in the Imperial War Museum Collection. A full size reproduction will form part of the Highgate show. Visitors to the exhibition will be also be able to listen to Delavigne’s moving testament recorded for the Imperial War Museum in 1998.
Delavigne’s troubled imagery was rendered in the English romantic landscape tradition to which he had his stylistic roots. Although certainly influenced by Goya’s etchings and Black Paintings, Delavigne was never an overt expressionist. It seems that he couldn’t help but instil his disturbing images with a quiet English poetry. The potent mix of subtle lyricism with stark imagery is compelling. There is an exhilarating mix of delicacy and rawness, beauty and bleakness.
Ron Delavigne lived his whole life in Highgate and died aged 94 in 2013. His gravestone, in the form of an artist’s palette, is in Highgate Cemetery. It is, of course, entirely appropriate to hold this exhibition in Highgate, where his widow Rita Delavigne continues to live.
A catalogue will accompany the show.
To coincide with ‘Paintings of Ron Delavigne 1919 -2013’ the Gallery is excited to host a Discussion Event on Sunday 17 April, 5-7pm, exploring the theme of Art, War and the Role of Memory. We are delighted to have as guest panellists Richard Cork: art historian, critic, broadcaster and exhibition curator, (‘A Bitter Truth: Avant-garde and the Great War: book and accompanying exhibition at RA)
Dr Glenn Sujo: writer, artist, educator and curator (‘Legacies of Silence: The Visual Arts and Holocaust Memory:’ book and accompanying exhibition at Imperial War Museum).
John Keane: painter, Gulf War artist, father was POW on Burma-Siam railway.
Albyn Leah Hall: novelist and psychotherapist. It will be chaired by Estelle Lovatt: FRSA – Independent art critic & art history Lecturer BBC Radio & TV.
Tickets: £10 on the door (£5 HLSI members) or reserve in advance on 020 8340 3343 or at admin@hlsi.net
Gallery open Tuesday-Friday 1-5pm, Saturday 11am-4pm, Sunday 11am-5pm; closed Mondays.