References: Art UK

UK art

Discover my personal journey through British Art and how it has influenced my work

In this article titled Art Prints UK I present in no particular order some of my prints along with other well-known works of art: paintings, prints, poems and music that British artists have created.

This exercise illustrates the references, influences, echoes that are present in my art that I have absorbed to create my own UK culture.

As it happens, I have gathered my own personal UK culture not just through museums’ shows and art books but also in more intimate ways – for example through trips to famous places that have been painted by other artists such as: The coast and clouds of Brighton painted by Constable or Samuel Palmer, the Sussex countryside portrayed as exquisite Japanese style woodcuts by Eric Slater or the banks of the Meon River in Hampshire painted abstractly by Ivon Hitchens.

I also enjoy art as it has been historically hung in country houses like Petworth or Chatsworth. Art surrounds us everywhere and with the mindset of an artist, when I am in front of a work of art, my judgement is not just in the appreciation of the style, technique and form but also with an inquisitive mind I question the artists’ circumstances. By answering these questions, I create a map of ideas that somehow intentionally or unintentionally influence my work as these experiences intrinsically become part of who I am.

Setting the UK art boundaries

The definition of Art of the United Kingdom refers to all forms of visual art in or associated with the United Kingdom since the formation of the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707 and encompasses English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish art, and forms part of Western art history.

UK artist

In 2020 I obtained British citizenship. The process included passing an English language test and the Life in the UK test which provides you with an insight into many aspects of the UK such as law, history, art, and geography etc but what I find more important is that this knowledge lays out the values of Western culture. The discussion to follow this paragraph questions the definition of an UK artist and the relevance and importance of this fact. These questions might answer themselves after the presentation that follows of UK art and my own work.

UK art by alej ez

Modern British Art

John Piper. Brighton Aquatints
Possibly one of the most important artists of 20th century Modern British Art. John Piper worked in the abstract, romantic and classical traditions as a painter, ceramicist, writer, designer and printmaker. In 1939 he created twelve illustrations for the book ‘Brighton Aquatints’.
John Piper. Brighton Aquatints
Possibly one of the most important artists of 20th century Modern British Art. John Piper worked in the abstract, romantic and classical traditions as a painter, ceramicist, writer, designer and printmaker. In 1939 he created twelve illustrations for the book ‘Brighton Aquatints’.
‘Brunswick Place Brighton Seaside Architecture’.

18th and 19th Century art

'Brighton Pavilion elevations'. John Nash.
Architect John Nash transformed the Royal Pavilion from a modest villa to a grand palace with both the exterior and interiors strongly influenced by the fashionable tastes of the orient. This is Nash’s illustration of the exterior of the Brighton Royal Pavilion in Brighton, one of the most depicted buildings by artists in the UK.
‘Brighton Pavilion elevations’. John Nash.
Architect John Nash transformed the Royal Pavilion from a modest villa to a grand palace with both the exterior and interiors strongly influenced by the fashionable tastes of the orient. This is Nash’s illustration of the exterior of the Brighton Royal Pavilion in Brighton, one of the most depicted buildings by artists in the UK.
‘Brighton Royal Pavilion Antique Blue and Ochre’.

Botanical Books, Sussex Landscapes and poetry

'Wild Flowers of the Chalk', is a beautiful Penguin book written by John Gilmor and illustrated by Irene Hawkins. I often take it with me in countryside walks to study the flora that lives in chalk soils.
‘Wild Flowers of the Chalk’, is a beautiful Penguin book written by John Gilmor and illustrated by Irene Hawkins. I often take it with me in countryside walks to study the flora that lives in chalk soils.
‘Seven Sisters White Cliffs’.
‘Seaford Head’ 1930. Eric slate created a series of Japanese style woodcuts that depicts the town where he lived, Seaford and its surrounds. Slater was awarded gold medals by the Society of California Printmakers.


Sussex by the sea – A poem by Rudyard Kipling

So to the land our hearts we give
Till the sure magic strike,
And Memory, Use, and Love make live
Us and our fields alike—
That deeper than our speech and thought,
Beyond our reason’s sway,
Clay of the pit whence we were wrought
Yearns to its fellow-clay.
God gives all men all earth to love,
But since man’s heart is small,
Ordains for each one spot shall prove
Beloved over all.
Each to his choice, and I rejoice
The lot has fallen to me
In a fair ground—in a fair ground—
Yea, Sussex by the sea!

Fine art print by artist alej ez titled Seaford Head to Newhaven Walk
‘Seaford Head to Newhaven Walk’

Pages from my sketchbooks with my illustrations of poems by
Walter de la Mare

Silver
By Walter De La Mare

Slowly, silently, now the moon
Walks the night in her silver shoon;
This way, and that, she peers, and sees
Silver fruit upon silver trees;
One by one the casements catch
Her beams beneath the silvery thatch;
Couched in his kennel, like a log,
With paws of silver sleeps the dog;
From their shadowy cote the white breasts peep
Of doves in a silver-feathered sleep;
A harvest mouse goes scampering by,
With silver claws, and silver eye;
And moveless fish in the water gleam,
By silver reeds in a silver stream.
The Tired Cupid
By Walter De La Mare

The thin moonlight with trickling ray,
Thridding the boughs of silver may,
Trembles in beauty, pale and cool,
On folded flower, and mantled pool.
All in a haze the rushes lean –
And he – he sits, with chin between
His two cold hands; his bare feet set
Deep in the grasses, green and wet.
About his head a hundred rings
Of gold loop down to meet his wings,
Whose feathers arched their stillness through
Gleam with slow-gathering drops of dew.
The mouse-bat peers; the stealthy vole
Creeps from the covert of its hole;
A shimmering moth its pinions furls,
Grey in the moonshine of his curls;
‘Neath the faint stars the night-airs stray,
Scattering the fragrance of the may;
And with each stirring of the bough
Shadow beclouds his childlike brow.
The Universe
by Walter de la Mare

I heard a little child beneath the stars
Talk as he ran along
To some sweet riddle in his mind that seemed
A-tiptoe into song.
In his dark eyes lay a wild universe,—
Wild forests, peaks, and crests;
Angels and fairies, giants, wolves and he
Were that world’s only guests.
Elsewhere was home and mother, his warm bed:—
Now, only God alone
Could, armed with all His power and wisdom, make
Earths richer than his own.
O Man!—thy dreams, thy passions, hopes, desires!—
He in his pity keep
A homely bed where love may lull a child’s
Fond Universe asleep!
‘A Devonshire Valley no 2’. This painting by Robert Polhill Bevan (1865-1925) was created around 1913. Robert was born in Brunswick Square, Hove and spent much of his childhood in Sussex. After he married, he lived in London. During the summers he often spent time in Sussex and on the Devon and Somerset border, painting the surrounding landscapes. This painting shows the view from a ridge near Applehayes Farm. Robert met French Post-Impressionist painter Paul Gauguin whilst painting in Brittany in 1893.
Fine art print by UK artist alej ez titled Sussex art Print, Devils Dike Round Headed Rampion, Pride of Sussex
‘Devils Dike Round Headed Rampion, Pride of Sussex’
Jacques-Ernile Blanche (1861-1942) painted in 1928 this oil titled ‘Brighton Front, East Sussex’. French artist Jacques-Emile was a friend of Walter Sickert. Before and after the First World War he crossed the Channel to Brighton frequently, painting seafront scenes. He introduced many English artists to new developments in French art. However This is a sketch for a larger painting with the same name. It shows some of Brighton’s grandest buildings at that time. At the left is the Bedford Hotel, now replaced by a tower block. The Metropole Hotel, still standing, is on the right.
Art print by artist alej ez titled Morning Walk Sea Promenade Brighton and Hove Pebble Beach
B.Morning Walk Sea Promenade Brighton and Hove Pebble Beach’. In my panoramic print you can see how the Metropole still stands but the Bedford Hotel is now Embassy Court.
Elevation of the Dome building in Brighton from Pavilion Gardens. Humphry Repton’s watercolour shows the planned landscaping of the grounds at the Royal Pavilion. The scene looks from the stables across the proposed basin. Repton’s  produced a book called the Red Book for the Royal Pavilion with proposal, he submitted the book to the Prince of Wales in 1806. Ultimately, the Prince did not use Repton’s designs. but the influence  on John Nash’s final designs is apparent. (Image from Brighton Museums website)
Elevation of the Dome building in Brighton from Pavilion Gardens. Humphry Repton’s watercolour shows the planned landscaping of the grounds at the Royal Pavilion. The scene looks from the stables across the proposed basin. Repton’s produced a book called the Red Book for the Royal Pavilion with proposal, he submitted the book to the Prince of Wales in 1806. Ultimately, the Prince did not use Repton’s designs. but the influence on John Nash’s final designs is apparent. (Image from Brighton Museums website)

art print titled Hollyhocks Bumblebees Acanthus at Pavilion Gardens Lavender by artist alej ez
‘Bumblebees buzzing upon Hollyhocks and Acanthus at Pavilion Gardens’.

Abstract UK art

Still Life Cerulean by Ben Nicholson from the Pallant House Gallery Collection
Still life cerulean’.
A Ben Nicholson abstract painting from 1946 that is part of the collection of Pallant House Gallery in Chichester
‘Pallant House Gallery Cerulean Blue’.
This print shows the street elevation where the Pallant House Gallery lives in Chichester. This museum houses an early 20th century modern British and European art collection and is conformed by a Queen Anne 18th century townhouse and a 21st century contemporary extension designed by Long & Kentish in association with Colin St John Wilson.
‘View of Chichester Cathedral’.
Print by John Piper View of Chichester Cathedral from the Deanery 1975

Painters and illustrators of the West Pier in Brighton. Stella Langdale. Vanessa Bell. Spencer Gore.

The

‘Evening. Brighton’ by Stella Langdale
‘Unknown Brighton’ is a 1926 book written by George Aitchison and published by John Lane The Bodley Head in London with illustrations of Stella Langdale.
Irene Stella Rolph Langdale (1880 – April 14, 1976) studied at the school of art in Brighton and then pursued further studies at the Glasgow School of Art with Maurice Greiffenhagen and Francis Henry Newbery. She sketched using charcoal and used oils, watercolour, pastels and etching techniques especially aquatint.
‘West Pier Nights’.
‘Brighton West Pier’ 1913 Oil paint on canvas by Spencer Gore
‘Brighton and Hove Seafront Ocean Blue.’
‘The West Pier, Brighton’, 1913 Spencer Gore 1878-1914
At Brighton Museum next to ‘The West Pier, Brighton’, 1913 Spencer Gore 1878-1914
‘I360, Palace Pier, The Bandstand and West Pier Pebble Beach’.
‘Brighton Beach Grey Day’. Duncan Grant 1933
art print titled Brighton's West Pier Rampion Wind Farm Gold Sea by artist alej ez
‘Brighton’s West Pier and Rampion Wind Farm Gold Sea’.
‘Beachy Head’. 1939 by Eric Ravilious,
Art print titled Beachy Head Wild Meadows Chalk and Flint Cliffs and the Sea by artist alej ez
‘Beachy Head Lighthouse White Cliffs’.
‘The Rock Slip near Boscastle’ by Samuel Palmer. 1870.
Art print by artist alej ez titled Beachy Head Lighthouse White Cliffs Amber
‘Beachy Head Lighthouse Chalk Cliffs’.

‘The Sun Rising’. A poem by John Donne. Prospect Cottage. Dungeness.

Busy old fool, unruly Sun,
Why dost thou thus,
Through windows, and through curtains, call on us ?
Must to thy motions lovers’ seasons run ?
Saucy pedantic wretch, go chide
Late school-boys and sour prentices,
Go tell court-huntsmen that the king will ride,
Call country ants to harvest offices ;
Love, all alike, no season knows nor clime,
Nor hours, days, months, which are the rags of time.
In that the world’s contracted thus ;
Thine age asks ease, and since thy duties be
To warm the world, that’s done in warming us.
Shine here to us, and thou art everywhere ;
This bed thy center is, these walls thy sphere

Fine art print by UK artist alej ez titled Ce Bleu Dungeness Derek Jarman Prospect Cottage
‘Ce Bleu Dungeness Derek Jarman Prospect Cottage’.
‘Triptych 1986-7’ by Francis Bacon. 1980.
Dragon artwork Brighton Pavilion Crimson and Blue Samson Triptych framed
‘Dragon print Brighton Pavilion Crimson and Blue Samson Triptych.’
A design for the Royal Pavilion possibly inspired by Chinese Imperial robes, by Frederick Crace, c1815.
Art print by artist alej ez titled Heron Print Royal Pavilion Orient Nights
‘Heron Print Royal Pavilion Orient Nights’.
Robert Tavener. Eastbourne
Art print titled A winter walk along Brighton Beach by artist alej ez
‘A winter walk along Brighton Beach’.
John Minton La Baignade 1946 Diex
‘The Bather by the West Pier’.
Robert Tavener Seven Sisters
art print by artist alej ez titled Cuckmere Cottages Crimson Seven Sisters Cliffs
‘Seven Sisters Walk Cuckmere Haven’.
‘The White Cloud’ painting by Samuel Palmer. 1833.
Art print by artist alej ez titled A Sussex Walk to The Long Man of Wilmington along the South Downs Way

‘The Sussex Walk to the Long Man of Wilmington’.

‘Appropriated Alphabets 7’ Peter Blake. 2013.
Art Print titled An Alphabet of Brighton by artist alej ez
‘Brighton and Hove Alphabet.’
‘Arthur Holdsworth Conversing with Thomas Taylor and Captain Stancombe by the River Dart’. 1757. By Arthus Devis, the master of conversation pieces.
‘Portrait in the Landscape Commission.’
‘Visscher Panorama 1616’ is a panorama of London by Claes Visscher, 1616. Old St Paul’s Cathedral had lost its spire by this time. The two theatres in the foreground on the Southwark side of the River Thames are The Bear Garden and The Globe. The large church in the foreground is St Mary Overie, now Southwark Cathedral.
‘London Thames by Westminster Bridge Antique Blue and Ochre.’ panoramic print.
‘Brighton Pier’ by Edward Bawden 1970. Displayed at Pallant House Gallery during the 2020 show ‘An Outbreak of Talent: Bawden, Marx, Ravilious, and their Contemporaries’.
Fine art print by UK artist alej ez titled Hove Brighton Beach Promenade Antique Blue and Ochre
‘Hove Brighton Beach Promenade Antique Blue and Ochre’.

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