Western Morning News (Saturday)
Inspiring show rich in style and subject
Elford Fine Art’s popular Christmas exhibition of select paintings opens today at the gallery in Tavistock and whether your preference is for oils or watercolours, this sparkling new collection is a joy, with an inspiring choice of colour, style and subject matter in pictures dating from the early 19th century to the present day.
All the works in the exhibition are for sale, including an outstanding oil of a Royal Navy frigate in Plymouth Sound by Nicholas Matthew Condy (1816-1851).
As a young man, Condy was intended for a military career, but displaying an early talent for art, he opted, instead, to become a professional maritime painter.
His work attracted the attention of the Earl of Egremont, a great patron of the arts who filled his home at Petworth House in Sussex with a wonderful collection, also including paintings by Turner and Constable.
Condy, who exhibited at The Royal Academy between 1842 and 1844, continued to live and work in Plymouth, the city of his birth, where his association with ships and the sea afforded him the detailed and accurate knowledge of rigging which is so much admired in his paintings.
This unmissable exhibition is rich in variety and among the 20th century works is an original British Railways advertising poster promoting the attractions of Devon as a holiday destination.
These iconic posters are extremely collectable, as few exist today. The majority were pasted on to billboards on railway station platforms to catch the eye of passengers and were eventually either torn down or covered over with a new advertisement.
Alongside paintings from the Newlyn School are Dartmoor landscapes by Frederick John and William Widgery, Charles Edward Brittan and John Barrett and coastal, marine and river scenes by William Gibbons, George Turland Goosey, E W Haslehust, Charles Napier Hemy, Richard Hayley Lever, Henry Martin, Julius Olsson, Arthur Perry, William Pitt, Walter Sweet, Henry Scott Tuke and Terrick Williams.
These scenes of yesteryear are complemented by an exciting choice of 21st century pictures full of scintillating light and colour. They include impressionist watercolours of Venice by Cecil Rice, new oil paintings of Polperro by Michelle Bennett Oates and Duncan Palmar, pastels from the studio of Julie Brett and the latest collection of exquisite miniature watercolours by Rosalind Pierson, President of The RMS.
Elford Fine Art’s Christmas Show is open at The Gallery, Drake Road, Tavistock from today until next Saturday, December 1 (11am to 3.30pm, closed on Sunday) and then by appointment. Telephone 07712 137272 or visit elfordfineart.co.uk for more details.