WILLIAM GREGOR AND AN AMAZING COINCIDENCE!!

July 14^th is an interesting date. The Lander Gallery is preparing a special exhibition to welcome members of the Old Cornwall Society from all over the region when they descend on Truro.

Among the Treasures for sale are some unique historical documents. Viv Hendra was arranging the display of a particular letter written from Truro to a merchant in London in 1681, all about buying and selling tin. Suddenly to his astonishment he noticed that the date on the letter was none other than July 14^th- the same date as the Old Cornwall Societies’ visit!

What an amazing coincidence! The letter was written 331 years ago to the very day.

The writer was William Gregor- one of the old Truro families. He had just bought the tin after its “coinage” and was arranging to get it to London straight away. You can picture him walking down from the Coinage Hall to the quay in order to arrange the shipping. This document is fascinating as it gives details of the price of the tin in July 1681, the name of the vessel going up to London and the name of its master.

Gregor must have been doing very well because he had recently bought Trewarthenick Estate at Tregony and was able to build the big house there just five years later.

We think the document is unpublished and unresearched. It is likely that nobody else has looked at it properly for over three hunded years.

The 2^nd year Foundation Degree Photography and Digital Imaging students from Truro College are exhibiting at the Lander Gallery in Truro. This is their “end of course” exhibition entitled FOCUSED and it will showcase the best of their final college project.

The genres of work covered include fashion, landscape, portraiture, documentary, fine art and still life.

Once again the Lander Gallery is delighted to host an exhibition of work by students from Truro College. Their unusual perspectives always make for a stimulating show. This year there is once again an unpredictable variety.

The monochrome image of the zebra at Paignton Zoo is by Alex Scheurmier. It characterises a show that offers plenty to enjoy and plenty to think about.
You can meet the photographers at the Open Evening this Friday15th, 6pm- 8pm.

The show runs until Saturday.

TRURO COLLEGE RBA SCHOLARS

TRURO COLLEGE RBA SCHOLARS

The RBA- ROYAL SOCIETY OF BRITISH ARTISTS- is a prestigious establishment with an international reputation.
Mall Galleries hosts the RBA show each year- an important event on the art calendar.

 A recent development is that NADFAS (National Association of Decorative and Fine Art Societies) invited its many societies to sponsor students from their local Sixth Forms  as candidates for selection for the RBA show.

Truro DFAS put forward artists from two 6th forms- TRURO COLLEGE (Three Milestone out beyond Sainsburys)  and TRURO SCHOOL (high on the hill).

From the whole country only forty works were selected- and of these an impressive NINE were from Truro.

This week Truro College takes the huge marquee on the piazza for the End of Year exhibition- it is an excellent show well worth visiting.
Related to that, we are showing six of their RBA exhibits here at the Lander.

You are invited to come to the Lander and see them- you will appreciate why these promising young talents are entitled to describe themselves as RBA SCHOLARS:

Maria Gaffney- Hyde
Chloe Northover
Ben Reader
Rowan Todd

OPIE IN LEATHERHEAD

Viv Hendra gave a talk on John Opie to the Leatherhead Decorative and Fine Arts Society on Wednesday 9th.
Wonderful people, all very friendly and interested in the artist. They have a self portrait not so far away at Hatchlands- and London is not far away.

There was almost a catastrophe at lunchtime in London. I was in an upmarket establishment where there was a shoe cleaning machine in the Gentlemen's Cloakroom. It had a number of brushes that spun around- one did the cleaning, one put the polish on, and another brought up the shine. All went well until my shoelace got caught on the wheel and wound itself around the machine, pulling me inwards to the extent that the bottom of my trousers got caught as well. Nothing would turn the machine off and it was starting to make worrying noises as it jammed completely. This was not good for the dignity.

ELEMENTS- NEW GALLERY SHOW

Jeremy Capper’s four wooden pieces bear symbols of the four Elements- and by a fitting coincidence they are made from a piece of Ash given to the artist some years ago by none other than Sandra Perry our own catering manager!

AIR- a fresh breeze is almost tangible in the Cornish watercolour landscapes of Janet Treloar. Until recently Vice President of the Royal Watercolour Society, Janet has lifelong associations with the Penwith scenes she vividly depicts.  Stronger winds bend the metal tree sculptures of Mitchell House. In Ann Plummer’s oils it is the air above Falmouth that glows in sunset and cloud.

WATER- the sea is never more than a few miles away in Cornwall and here some stunning seascapes ishow Janet Shaw- Browne’s plein air energy, John Laver’s tranquil  North Cornwall sunsets and  Celia Jayne’s accomplished pastels. Richard Lannowe Hall evokes the great depth of the oceans in his oils- some of which are painted aboard his boat. Julian Rowe’s vertiginous cliffs and turbulent seas glow in the sunshine while Caroline Atkinson’s style changes subtly where the edge of the tide turns feathery white on the sand .

FIRE: Jeremy Capper’s distinctive wood sculptures derive their blackened textured surface from being set on fire as part of their creative process.

EARTH: Enjoy the landscapes by Paul Nicholls, Gordon Hunt and, as a newcomer, own barista Sam Hebburn- whose vigorous impasto acrylics of Truro and Falmouth are done without brushes.

Clay is used very strikingly by Audrey Jackson, who shows highly original sculptural pieces involving birds - one is suitable for a garden fountain. Gordon and Heather Hunt’s pottery pieces look as though they are made from solid earth. We have new raku from Chris Hawkins and a lovely bantam from Lynn Davey!

Lander newcomers this exhibition also include Andrea Hall and Sally Jones- do come and look at their work.

Over on the Classics side there is the best Douglas Pindar watercolour we have seen- showing the sea at Newquay- and Kurt Lachmann’s striking poster design for the 1936 Olympics.

CATHERINE WALLACE ART LECTURES

Catherine Wallace is familiar to Lander Gallery regulars as she is often behind the desk in the gallery and she curates the exhibitions for Lander Today.
She is also a popular lecturer and we have managed to locate a diary of her forthcoming lectures. Have a look and see if you can go to any! If you go to one you will probably want to go to the rest!

Friends of Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery Lunchtime Lecture
FAME FOR THE NEWLYN SCHOOL -At Home And Abroad in the 1880s and 90s
By Catherine Wallace
30TH OCTOBER 2012 - 1.10 - 2.00PM FREE PLYMOUTH CITY MUSEUM, DRAKE CIRCUS, PLYMOUTH, PL4 8AJ

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Truro DAFAS
Evening lecture
WOMEN ARTISTS IN CORNWALL 1880 - 1940
By Catherine Wallace
14TH NOVEMBER 2012 7.00 - 8.00PM £5 MYLOR LECTURE THEATRE, TRURO COLLEGE, TRURO

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Friends of Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery Lunchtime Lecture
HAROLD HARVEY– A Cornish Painter and friends
By Catherine Wallace
27 NOVEMBER 2012 1.10 - 2.00PM FREE
PLYMOUTH CITY MUSEUM, DRAKE CIRCUS, PLYMOUTH, PL4 8AJ

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Friends of Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery Lunchtime Lecture
LAMORNA BIRCH - A LEADER IN CORNISH LANDSCAPE PAINTING
By Catherine Wallace 8 JANUARY 2013 1.10 - 2.00PM FREE
PLYMOUTH CITY MUSEUM, DRAKE CIRCUS, PLYMOUTH, PL4 8AJ 

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Friends of Penlee House Museum, Penzance
Evening lecture
PLAYS,POEMS AND FAIRYTALES: The literary inspired work and historic revival in Newlyn School Art By Catherine Wallace 20 MAY 2013 7.30 - 8.30pm (Friends £2.00, non members £3.00). Booking is essential - please phone PENLEE HOUSE on 01736 363625
PENLEE HOUSE MUSEUM, MORRAB GARDENS, MORRAB ROAD, PENZANCE 

OPIE TALK IN EPSOM

Viv Hendra gave a lecture on JOHN OPIE, THE CORNISH WONDER to the Epsom Decorative and Fine Arts Society yesterday. The interest in Opie was considerable.

There was a point of local reference at HATCHLANDS, also in Surrey. That house was built for Admiral Boscawen in 1756 following his naval triumphs. The Boscawen family is essentially Cornish and the historic country seat is not Hatchlands, but Tregothnan, near Truro.

Boscawen's widow played an important part in launching the career of Opie when he arrived in London in the winter of 1779/1780. As the story goes, she was in her London house when she happened to read the 1779 Annual Register in which Wolcot's poem on the death of her son Edward Glanville Boscawen had finally been published. Deeply moved, she contacted Wolcot who then made sure she met Opie. Then it was Mrs Bos who organised the portrait of her friend Mrs Delany and the introduction to George lll which transformed the artist's life.
If all this sounds complicated you will find it clearly told in JOHN OPIE: THE CORNISH WONDER, copies of which are still available at the Lander Gallery.

Hatchlands is now a National Trust property and the collection includes a self portrait by Opie (not a Boscawen piece)