GUILD OF RAILWAY ARTISTS
It’s been 40 years since the Guild of Railway Artists was formed. One of its most renowned and talented figures, PHILIP D. HAWKINS FGRA, describes its heritage, with a selection of some of its creations.
Celebrating steam’s finest paintings
It is a sobering thought that, as I sit in my studio in Dawlish writing this, 40 years have hurtled by since the Guild of Railway Artists was formed at the dawn of 1979.
We are all 40 years older – some of us weren’t even born then.
Members have come and gone, many exhibitions have been staged, books of members’ works have been published.
It is easy to forget that railway art was considered to be very much a niche interest, with a few exceptions: Monet and Turner’s famous depictions of 19th-century trains, for example. But nobody could have imagined that the Guild of Railway Artists would still be going strong after all this time.
It started in 1977 as the brainchild of Frank Hodges and Steve Johnson who, as members of the Wight Locomotive Society, had the bright idea of bringing together works of railway art and staging an exhibition called ‘Railart 77’ in Leamington Spa in aid of the World Wildlife Fund. Among the artists taking part were Terence Cuneo, David Shepherd, George Heiron, Jim Petrie and our very own Dick Potts.
The response was encouraging and sowed the seeds of the GRA in the minds of Frank and Steve. The result was that the guild was inaugurated and the very first exhibition held, appropriately, at the Guildhall in York during October 1979. Along with 15 others, I became a founder member.
LIKE-MINDED SOULS
One of the most rewarding aspects of membership of the GRA is the opportunity to meet and chat with fellow artists.
Many creative ventures tend to be, at times, a solitary and lonely way to make a living. The chance to discuss the ups and downs, not to mention the ways and means of portraying railways, with like-minded souls, is a real treat.
Members of the GRA include professional, semi-professional and amateur artists painting in a wide variety of mediums: oils, acrylics, gouache, tempera, watercolour, ink, pencil, pastel, airbrush, silk screen and even digital.
Although primarily a UK guild, membership extends throughout Europe, America, Australia
and South Africa. The GRA meets on a regular basis at members’ days, selection panel meetings and the annual general meeting. Area group meetings are also held in locations throughout the British Isles.
The guild is managed by The Guild Council, which is elected by the membership at the annual general meetings, and contains full and associate members.
ON THE ROAD
Since the very first GRA ‘Railart’ exhibition, held at York in 1979, Guild exhibitions have been staged all over the UK but, following many successful shows there, the decision was made to make Kidderminster Railway Museum the regular venue for ‘Railart’.
Since the formation of the guild in 1979, approximately 4,876 works of art have been exhibited.
Since 2016, ‘Railart’ has flourished at the KRM (expertly curated by David Postle Hon. GRA).
Now that the guild has a permanent base, we have taken the opportunity to design, using the expertise of John Austin, a new state-of-the-art lighting system.
Consequently, visitors to this year’s ‘Railart’ will certainly notice a vast improvement to their viewing experience.
In 1993, in memory of Laurence Hammonds GRA, a superb artist and founder member, a competition was introduced inviting visitors to the annual ‘Railart’ exhibition to vote for their favourite painting. Hopefully, this has encouraged a closer study of the work on display and also serves to evaluate how styles and trends have changed over the years – and we shall be doing the same this year.
As our ruby anniversary, ‘Railart 2019’ promises to be a very special occasion. The exhibition will be open to the public on August 17 (2pm onwards) and runs until September 29.