In Colour: Sickert to Riley

Stunning exhibition at Charleston Farmhouse looking at the impact of colour in 20th century art.

Curated by the designer Cressida Bell, Vanessa Bell’s granddaughter, the exhibition shows a selection of paintings without labels against rich coloured walls to emphasis the colours in them. You do get a leaflet to tell you what the pictures are to give some description from Cressida about why she chose the works. I loved the mix of work in this show. 

There are some great loans to this show with pictures not only from Charleston’s own collection but also from the British Council, Hepworth Wakefield, Pembroke College Oxford and York Art Gallery. It was lovely to see Francis Cadell’s “The Embroidered Cloak” from the Ferens in Hull, an old favourite.

The pictures looked fantastic against the vibrant, dark coloured walls and were hung in a roughly similar and contrasting colour palette to show off the colours in the works. It really made you look carefully at the works and appreciate the colour in them, yes even the Sickert who mainly seemed to paint in shades of gravy.

Stand out works for me included Charles Ginner’s “The Barges, Leeds” as I love the texture in his work.  Also Mark Gertler’s “Portrait of a Girl, Glyn Philpot’s “Portrait of Henry Thomas” and Mary Feddon’s “Mauve Still Life”.

Closes 26 August 2019

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