Neglected painter Harry reached highest Peaks
MY small but perfectlyformed gallery in Padfield is soon to host the paintings of one Harry Ousey, a Longsight-born artist who died in France in 1985.
Readers can be forgiven for not having heard of Harry before, and his name may not be at the forefront of British abstract art, but if the endeavours of his niece Sue Astles, of Glossop, are anything to go by, then he soon will be. Further, to be just a tiny cog in the wheel of his further recognition is a great privilege for me.
Harry, who was asked to show one of his paintings by LS Lowry by as early as 1948, was very much his own man, but undoubtedly an artist’s artist. Although he was influenced in his early days by the work of Paul Nash, it soon became evident that he knew where he wanted to go with his work - and plough on he did, in spite of losing much of his work during the Second World War.
Harry cut his teeth with paintings of Derbyshire and the Peak District, turning out the occasional representational work for cash. He was, in my opinion, a master in the making.
Prolific, daring, ahead of his time and, as all art is about shape and colour, oh so sensitive, decadent and sensuous.
He married in 1942 and after the war he and his wife Susie spent time in Cornwall, where he had some interaction with the artists of the St Ives movement. The couple also lived in Derbyshire, his first love, as well as Gloucestershire, where he opened a gallery, and Scotland.
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s Ousey’s work was displayed in several prestigious London galleries, but in the 1970s he moved to France with his wife, living and painting from a Volkswagen Caravanette for several months before settling in Aix-enProvence for ten years.
Sue Astles said: “I think Uncle Harry became more and more disillusioned with the art world and decided to leave the country.”
Ousey’s health deteriorated after more than a decade in France and he died before the completion of a major exhibition he had been working on.
His work was left untouched by his wife for over ten years after his death, and when she too died the collection of hundreds of works was bequeathed to Sue.
After being invited to see some of his works by Sue and her husband Ron, many unseen, even I was lost for words - a once in a lifetime experience to sift through the maelstrom of an artist’s mind, it was overwhelming to be able to work my way through his life; the 50s, 60s and 70s, with tantalising glimpses before and after these dates. It was Harry’s time-line, his painterly family-tree and the ultimate chronicle of a vision.
Before Harry’s exhibition at my place, readers have the opportunity to see some of his best work at the North’s leading art fair, the ‘Buy Art Fair’, when it returns to Old Granada Studios, Manchester, on September 22-25, 2016. Both Sue and Ron will be there to talk to visitors.
With 3,000 pieces of art from 100 exhibitors to choose from and affordable prices from £50 to £5,000 plus there’s something for everyone from the first-time buyer to the serious collector. There are also drawing workshops, artist’s talks, special exhibitions, guided tours and children’s activities. Check out www. buyartfair.co.uk/
The man of vision who founded and organises the Buy Art Fair is Thom Hetherington, 42, of Glossop. Thom is also a board member of the Castlefield Gallery, and he advises the Whitworth Art Gallery and Manchester Museum on visitor hospitality.
As well as art Thom is an authority on food and drink, and I feel a real affinity with his raison d’etre - spreading the word, both locally and nationally, about all that is good in dining and art.
Like me Thom has also given good press to Glossop and the Peak District in the nationals and I think he would have enjoyed my first mention of Crowden in the Sunday Times in 1988: the article referred to the severe storms of the year before, when an estimated fifteen million trees were lost, and I talked about forests being reduced to ‘shades of glades gone by’.
To lighten the mood I threw in one of my recipes for chanterelles fried in butter with pancetta, washed down with Italian red of course, and encouraged readers to first plant ten trees before enjoying the feast.
To give Harry the last word, which I think he would have enjoyed, I share this gouache painting he made in 1970.
He didn’t sign it, a kind of tease to the viewer, and although he did title it, I’ll just leave it to your own imagination.