North House Gallery. exhibitions, paintings, drawings, sculpture, original prints and books by modern and contemporary artists of East Anglian, national and international fame.

BLAIR HUGHES-STANTON

Unique Works on Paper

Blair Hughes-Stanton (1902-1981) was most famous for his wood-engravings and later linocuts. But he also created a substantial body of drawings and paintings. This exhibition is a unique opportunity to see a representative cross-section of his unique works on paper.

The life drawings from the twenties are on the whole expressive rather than naturalistic, often with a hint of humour. The watercolours of the mid-thirties fall into three groups: strange surrealist figures in bare landscapes; exuberant, calligraphic, Picasso-esque figures with horses; and finally a relaxed, natural series of nudes. The last three summers before the Second World War were spent in the South of France where, at the height of his powers, he produced wonderful images of figures on the beach in ink and watercolour.

Although captured, badly injured and imprisoned during the war, he continued to draw in the hospitals and prison camps. The focus of his drawings and paintings on his return was his local pub in Stratford St Mary. These latter works are detailed, unusually realistic and amusing.

In 1947 he started a series of drawings in pastel of the River Stour at Stratford St Mary. Although the earlier ones are straight landscapes in subdued blue and green, the later ones were, by 1949, peopled by scantily clad young women in more vibrant tones.

In the early 50s he made large, elaborate ink and watercolour pictures inspired by Greek myths and The Iliad, his Homeric Drawings, as he called them. Very few are still available. The exhibition concludes with a series of happy, personal monotypes from 1953.

Exhibition dates

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Open on Saturdays, 10 am - 5 pm

These images are a selection of the works available at the Gallery
Please contact the gallery for further information.

Exhibition venue: North House Gallery The Walls, Manningtree, Essex CO11 1AS
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