DOI Heft:
No. 123 (May, 1907)
DOI Artikel:Covey, Arthur Sinclair: The Brangwyn room at the City Art Gallery Leeds
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.28251#0196
The Brangwyn Room at the City Art Gallery, Leeds
the four panels which formed the frieze were pur-
chased for the City Art Gallery at Leeds, where
they have recently been put in place. There is, it
seems to me, an evidence of far-sightedness, and of
a sense of “ eternal fitness,” herein disclosed on the
part of the Leeds Art Committee. Bearing in mind
that the subjects treated in these panels have
wholly to deal with various British industries, it
seems especially fitting that a great manufacturing
city like Leeds should be the possessor of them.
Although they are decorations pure and simple,
yet they are full of character and of interesting
incidents connected with the various branches of
industry with which they have to deal, viz. :
Workers in Steel (a pastel study for which is here
reproduced), Excavating, Pottery Making, The
Smiths and The Spinners. Just how adequately
they present their respective phases of present-day
life in England is best appreciated by the Venetians,
for whose gallery they were painted and whose
modern life is so totally different. They certainly
carry with them splendid suggestions of the strength
and bigness (if I may use the term) of the nation
from which they came, and prove, as the finest
examples of the art of any period do prove, that
the artist is best found treating his own life and
his own time. As I have mentioned in my previous
article, Mr. Brangwyn designed the entire room,
woodwork and furniture, and this fact made it
somewhat difficult to adjust the panels to their
new setting. The room at Leeds is an old one,
and, owing to the shape of it, it was found neces-
sary to add another panel to complete the frieze.
This one, The Spinners, has been recently executed,
and is here reproduced, together with a number of
sketches and studies. This subject is especially
appropriate, as this is one of the oldest industries
of the city of Leeds.
When one considers that this set of decorative
paintings left England two years ago with no other
plan than that they were to remain in Venice, it
should be gratifying to the British art-appreciating
public to learn that a man came forward at the
“ psychological moment ” and took steps to ensure
the return of these panels to their native country.
This result we owe to Mr. Sd Wilson of Leeds,
STUDY FOR PANEL AT CITY ART GALLERY, LEEDS
182
BY FRANK BRANGWYN, A.R.A.
the four panels which formed the frieze were pur-
chased for the City Art Gallery at Leeds, where
they have recently been put in place. There is, it
seems to me, an evidence of far-sightedness, and of
a sense of “ eternal fitness,” herein disclosed on the
part of the Leeds Art Committee. Bearing in mind
that the subjects treated in these panels have
wholly to deal with various British industries, it
seems especially fitting that a great manufacturing
city like Leeds should be the possessor of them.
Although they are decorations pure and simple,
yet they are full of character and of interesting
incidents connected with the various branches of
industry with which they have to deal, viz. :
Workers in Steel (a pastel study for which is here
reproduced), Excavating, Pottery Making, The
Smiths and The Spinners. Just how adequately
they present their respective phases of present-day
life in England is best appreciated by the Venetians,
for whose gallery they were painted and whose
modern life is so totally different. They certainly
carry with them splendid suggestions of the strength
and bigness (if I may use the term) of the nation
from which they came, and prove, as the finest
examples of the art of any period do prove, that
the artist is best found treating his own life and
his own time. As I have mentioned in my previous
article, Mr. Brangwyn designed the entire room,
woodwork and furniture, and this fact made it
somewhat difficult to adjust the panels to their
new setting. The room at Leeds is an old one,
and, owing to the shape of it, it was found neces-
sary to add another panel to complete the frieze.
This one, The Spinners, has been recently executed,
and is here reproduced, together with a number of
sketches and studies. This subject is especially
appropriate, as this is one of the oldest industries
of the city of Leeds.
When one considers that this set of decorative
paintings left England two years ago with no other
plan than that they were to remain in Venice, it
should be gratifying to the British art-appreciating
public to learn that a man came forward at the
“ psychological moment ” and took steps to ensure
the return of these panels to their native country.
This result we owe to Mr. Sd Wilson of Leeds,
STUDY FOR PANEL AT CITY ART GALLERY, LEEDS
182
BY FRANK BRANGWYN, A.R.A.