Dartmoor painting joins The Box’s collection
PLYMOUTH museum and art gallery The Box has acquired a Westcountry painting from an acclaimed artist for its permanent art collection.
‘Dartmoor China Clay’ was painted in 1992 by Jean Jones (1927-2012), a London-born artist who had a deep connection with Devon throughout her life.
The artwork shows a stunning rural landscape painted with Jones’ signature broad brush strokes and simple yet vibrant colour palette.
It has been gifted by Jones’ family and the Brownston Gallery in Modbury which has been working with the Jean Jones Estate to bring the artist’s work and life story back into the spotlight.
Art historian and representative of the Jean Jones Estate, Michael Kurtz, said: “We’re delighted that The Box has accepted this gift, which represents the first occasion Jones’ work will be seen in a public collection since her exhibition at Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum in 1980. The Estate’s mission is to research and publicise the life and art of Jean Jones, a virtuosic landscape painter whose career was derailed by mental illness and the expectation that she would perform a traditional role as wife and mother.
“We hope ‘Dartmoor China Clay’ will bring her joyful vision of the local landscape, as well as her significant story, to a wider public. She would have been immensely pleased, not only because Devon was her favourite place to live and paint, but also because she passionately admired many of the artists she’ll now be in the company of.”
Jones was fascinated by colour and often painted her landscapes ‘en plein air’, or outdoors. After enjoying holidays in the South Hams and living in Bideford as a child, she and her husband John bought a property in Shaugh Prior on the edge of Dartmoor. Devon and the act of painting itself often provided her with an escape from periods of anxiety, depression and bipolar disorder. Despite the mental health challenges she faced, she produced over 400 paintings. Catherine Gillen, director of the Brownston Gallery said: “This acquisition by The Box will go a long way towards ensuring that Jean Jones is recognised as an accomplished artist in her own right.”
Terah Walkup, art curator at The Box said: “This painting is a wonderful addition to The Box’s art collections, especially our 20th century paintings, and adds a moving, previously untold, story to the continuing legacy of artists deeply inspired by the local landscape.”