A new exhibition will fill Firstsite with bold and beautiful paintings – an immediacy of colour and energy – commanding the space with their vibrancy and confidence.
As part of its ongoing series of exhibitions focusing on painters of The East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing at Benton End, Firstsite will now shine a light on the life and career of Lucy Harwood (1893 – 1972).
In this first major Harwood exhibition since 1975 – the largest ever survey of her work – visitors will explore over 100 of Harwood’s artworks, described by artist Matthew Smith as featuring ‘great delicacy and detail, bold palette and flamboyant impasto’ (Colchester Art Society).
Harwood described herself as a dedicated Post-Impressionist with a clear affinity for artists such as Van Gogh and Gauguin. Similarly, her work included a variety of landscapes, still life and portraiture, which will feature in the exhibition. Artefacts illustrating the life and career of the artist will also be available to examine as part of this exhibition.
Harwood was born into a landowning and farming family at Belstead Park, near Ipswich, but shortly afterwards, the family relocated to Ackworth House in East Bergholt. As a child, Lucy had shown considerable talent as a pianist, but complications from an operation on her right arm left her partially paralysed on her right side, and her ambition to become a professional musician had to be abandoned. In place of the piano, Harwood turned to painting and, prior to the outbreak of World War One, enrolled at the Slade School of Fine Art in London.
In 1937, at the age of 45, Harwood continued her studies at the East Anglian School of Printing and Drawing in Dedham, run by Cedric Morris and his partner Arthur Lett-Haines. Here artists were encouraged develop their own style without formal instruction. However, it had to be closed after one of her fellow pupils, Lucian Freud (1922-2011) allegdly, set fire to the building. Harwood remained with the school when it relocated to Benton End, a Grade II listed 16th-century house on the outskirts of Hadleigh, Suffolk, in 1937.
Painting with her left hand, her works are spontaneous and colourful still lives and landscapes of the area around her new house at Upper Layham, near Hadleigh.
Her relationship with Benton End continued for many years, where she mentored the younger students, including Maggi Hambling (b.1945).
Throughout her life, Harwood had an abiding passion for the countryside, which was reflected in her artistic output, while also finding sitters for her portraits amongst Benton End’s students and neighbours.
Many artworks have been loaned by local community members, many of whom were friends or neighbours of the artist. Their stories about the paintings and anecdotes about Lucy Harwood will also feature in the show, providing a fascinating insight into her life.
As part of the exhibition, Firstsite is making a film with members of the Harwood family – visiting her Upper Layham home, where she lived until her death, and examining the artworks held in the Colchester gallery’s collection.
The exhibition has been co-curated with the renowned arts journalist and biographer of Cedric Morris and Arthur Lett Haines, Hugh St Clair, who says: “Lucy Harwood was a key part of The East Anglian School and also a dedicated and serious artist who found her own inimitable colourful style and striking technique. The show aims to bring to life her independent spirit and courage through her diaries that will be quoted from. There will also be a display of some of her favourite things that formed the inspiration for her Still Life paintings. Visitors will also be able to interpret some of the local landscapes she depicted that can be shown alongside her originals.”
Sally Shaw MBE, Director of Firstsite, comments: “The exhibition is the third in our series exploring the influence and legacy of the East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing. This series aims to highlight some of its former students who created incredible work but have been largely overlooked.
“Lucy Harwood’s paintings have a wonderful radiance to them and capture the beauty of the landscapes which inspired her. Many artworks in the show will feature local East Anglian landscapes, but there will also be landscapes from her travels around the UK and Europe.
“Lucy showed great resilience in her life, adapting to a new art form when her dreams to become a professional musician were dashed. This exhibition is a celebration of her determination to stay creative, and we hope it will inspire anyone who has lost confidence in their creativity to find a new way to feel creative, too. Like many of our exhibitions, we will provide opportunities for everyone to create artworks that can be displayed as part of the exhibition, encouraging everyone to explore their imagination and discover the benefits that making art can bring us all.”
Firstsite is delighted to thank a new exhibition supporter, Trevor Fenwick, whose generosity has made this exhibition possible. This exhibition is also supported by longstanding donor, The Coode-Adams Firstsite Trust.
