Jonathan Cooper: 30 Years

Jonathan Cooper 30 Years

Jonathan Cooper 30 Years

20 Park Walk  London  SW10 0AQ t: +44 (0)20 7351 0410 mail@jonathancooper.co.uk jonathancooper.co.uk

Jonathan Cooper: 30 Years in Park Walk

“I have always followed my personal taste and forged my own path, and over the past 30 years I have been acquiring artists who have been, perhaps, outside the mainstream and vagaries of fashion, but in whom I noticed exceptional potential. It is this potential that I have sought to nurture and promote, and I have found that an artist, given an opportunity, will rise to the occasion, and develop very quickly. It is as imperative for an art dealer to be adaptable and open to the new as it is for the artists that he or she represents.”

That has been Jonathan Cooper’s credo since 1988, when he opened his eponymous gallery at the Fulham Road end of Park Walk in Chelsea, and as this anniversary exhibition demonstrates, it has served him well. His own interest in paintings began early, since his father was an enthusiastic and knowledgeable collector, and he remembers a party at a neighbouring country house when he was 15, where he was more interested in the pictures on the walls than teenage revelry. He worked for Frost & Reed for five years, and when he opened his own gallery he dealt not in living artists, but in the secondary market, until in the early 2000s he decided to sell work directly from living painters and sculptors of the highest quality he could find. Among those he championed from the early days are Jay Kirkman, Michael J Austin and Gary Stinton.

Here we should have 30 artists for the 30 years, but in fact 31 are included, so one may be taken to stand for years still to come. They are a varied bunch, but there is a community of taste. To quote Jonathan once more: “I would say that what unifies them is quality and traditional techniques – with a twist!” Landscape, wildlife, nature and flowers are major themes, but there are also still lifes, interiors and wonderful portraits of dogs.

It might be feared that such a gallery might be no more than a comforting haven for the great British School of Nostalgia, but far from it - that twist is always evident. Furthermore, among the artists are Americans and Canadians and one each from France, Italy, South Africa, China and Russia. Of course, Jonathan has spotted many of them himself, in galleries and exhibitions around the world, and also near at hand: Tim Hayward’s father-in-law ran a gallery in Park Walk, Tanya Brett’s artist father has his studio behind the gallery and Harriet Bane was a London neighbour. He admired a magazine illustration of a mural by Rebecca Campbell, and so rang her. “Do you do paintings?” “No.” “Could you?” – and now she does. Alison Elliott came by way of a review in Country Life.

However he uses his ear as well as his eye, and he is a good listener. He readily acknowledges those who have brought new artists to his attention, including his gallery manager, his framer, fellow dealers, other artists, his daughter and his parents. As his reputation has grown, so more artists have introduced themselves, and in several cases he has eagerly taken on people who have been turned down by less discerning London galleries. These stories give context to the works. While a work of art should be perfectly capable of representing itself, it

is often enhanced by some knowledge of the creator and the circumstances that produced it. That is certainly the case with the group of artists harmoniously brought together for this celebratory show.

For instance, it seems entirely fitting that rather than through the brasher workings of the international market, the work of He Xi, a Chinese master who seamlessly blends eastern and western traditions, should have been brought to Jonathan by one of He’s pupils, who approached him at a LAPADA Fair. Gary Stinton, whose animal portraits in pastel are superb, was similarly introduced by his nephew. Jonathan treasured a postcard of sheep by James Lynch for years before he “acquired” the artist.

There are so many things that I like or admire here, that it is undoubtedly invidious to name an outstanding work among them, but for me it is the extraordinary still life of Poppies by Susan Angharad Williams. The technical mastery of her painting - just look at that jug - is fully complemented by the meticulously constructed composition, with the flowers echoed in the textiles, and in the shadows and rips of the wallpaper behind.

Williams studied at Bath and the Royal College of Art, where she was tutored by Sir Peter Blake and Donald Hamilton Finlay and won the Drawing Prize. On her graduation in 1969 they considered her “one of the two most outstanding students at the college in the last 20 years”, the other being Kitaj. Then she disappeared from the art world, only reappearing in 2006.

Her first solo show at Jonathan Cooper was in 2009. The story is as remarkable as the work.

Several flower painters and botanical illustrators (the term depends on their preferences), such as Rosie Sanders, Kate Nessler, Fiona Strickland, and Beverley Allen, were introduced to him by Dr Shirley Sherwood, the botanist, philanthropist and collector, whose Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art opened at Kew in 2008. It shows living artists from her collection together with work from the Gardens’ holdings.

A Northern thread is discernible in this show, which is appropriate. In 1988 the London art market was beginning to wake up to some of the glories of North European and Scandinavian romantic painting, both of landscapes and interiors. Indeed, I think that was the first year that a major Vilhelm Hammershøi appeared at Sotheby’s. The quiet interiors of Geneviève Daël, who came to Jonathan after 10 successful solo shows at Francis Kyle’s now closed gallery, have something of the melancholy and expectation of Hammershøi’s interiors, but with the warmer light of Paris rather than his Copenhagen gloom. This I mean very much as praise, since I love both melancholy and Hammershøi.

Outdoors something of the same magical mood is caught by Tom Mabon with his January Moon, presumably painted on the Black Isle, where he has lived since 1983, and surely the very essence of a still Scottish midwinter night. Then, there is David Grossmann, who says “The places I paint are somewhere between reality, memory, and imagination. Sometimes they are representations of specific places and experiences. Other times they are a multitude of places that I combine in my effort to express emotion, balance, and the quiet rhythms that find me when I wander through nature.” Grossmann was born in Colorado and brought up in Chile, but for me his birchwoods and deer have echoes of Finland, with perhaps a dash of Belgian Symbolism.

As I said, it is invidious to make choices between these painters, and I apologise to those I have not mentioned. However, the show is not made up of paintings only, and I must not forget the sculptures and ceramics – Tanya Brett, Georgina Warne and Fenella Elms are all artists at the top of their game.

Huon Mallalieu, writer on the Art Market and Collecting for Country Life and The Times.

Artists

Beverly Allen

1

White bat flower – ‘Tacca integrifolia’

Watercolour 24.41 × 22.44 ins (62 × 57 cm)

Michael J Austin

2

Headway I

Oil on canvas 39.4 × 37.75 ins (100 × 96 cm)

Harriet Bane

3

Two Curlews

Watercolour and acrylic on gessoed board 16 × 20 ins (40.6 × 50.8 cm)

Tanya Brett

4

Miura Bull

Bronze 17 × 24 × 8.5 ins (43.2 × 61 × 21.6 cm)

Edition of 9

Rebecca Campbell

5

An Army of Caterpillars

Oil on linen 39.4 × 27.5 ins (100 × 70 cm)

Geneviève Daël

6

Le silence des oeuvres

Oil on canvas 21.25 × 31.9 ins (54 × 81 cm)

Alison Elliott

7

Inca (Miniature Poodle)

Oil on gesso panel 7 Ă— 6 ins (18 Ă— 15 cm)

Commissions undertaken

Fenella Elms

8

White Green Flow Pot

Hand-built porcelain with white and green two tone Flow outside, glazed inside

10.25 × 14 × 11 ins (26 × 36 × 28 cm)

David Grossmann

9

In the Winter Dusk

Oil on linen over panel 50 Ă— 30 ins (127 Ă— 76.2 cm)

Tim Hayward

10 Poised - Golden Rose

Watercolour and gouache on Arches 300gsm paper 60 Ă— 40 ins (152.4 Ă— 101.6 cm)

Ben Henriques

11 Potted Flower, Jan 2018

Oil on linen panel 18 × 22 ins (45.7 × 56 cm)

He Xi

12 A Brighter Future

Ink and Chinese pigments on silk 39.37 × 27.5 ins (100 × 70 cm)

Ron Kingswood

13 First Light – Manchurian Cranes

Oil on canvas 48 × 48 ins (122 × 122 cm)

Jay Kirkman

14 Grey III, 1999

Charcoal, white chalk and blue pastel on prepared board

43 × 48 ins (109.2 × 121.9 cm)

T. Allen Lawson

15 Winter Blueberries

Oil on panel 20 × 48 ins (50.8 × 121.9 cm)

James Lynch

16 The Longleat Hare

Egg tempera on gesso coated wood panel 29 Ă— 51 ins (74 Ă— 130 cm)

Tom Mabon

17 January Moon

Oil on linen 24 × 24 ins (61 × 61 cm)

Andrew Macara

18 Bright Morning and Snow-Covered Trees, Morzine

Oil on linen 20 Ă— 24 ins (50.8 Ă— 61 cm)

Kate Nessler

19 Winter Fern

Graphite and watercolour on Veiny Vellum 18 Ă— 12 ins (45.7 Ă— 30.5 cm)

Nicholas Phillips

20 The Waiter

Watercolour 10.5 × 15.75 ins (26.8 × 40 cm)

Alla Polkovnichenko

21 Evening in Amra

Oil on canvas 39.4 × 39.4 ins (100 × 100 cm)

Rosie Sanders

22 It was the time of roses

Watercolour on Arches 640gsm paper 40 Ă— 48.75 ins (102 Ă— 124 cm)

Harry Steen

23 Hestia

Oil on board 24 × 28 ins (61 × 71.1 cm)

Gary Stinton

24 White Lion

Pastel on museum board 28 × 57 ins (71 × 145 cm)

Fiona Strickland

25 Celebration. Papaver

Watercolour on Kelmscott vellum 16.6 Ă— 16.75 ins (42.2 Ă— 42.5 cm)

Marzio Tamer

26 Descent from the Ark

Watercolour 51.57 Ă— 73.82 ins (131 Ă— 187.5 cm)

Nicholas Turner

27 Anemones

Oil on linen 23.6 Ă— 23.6 ins (60 Ă— 60 cm)

Georgina Warne

28 Anniversary Curlew

High fired earthenware 21.35 × 15.4 × 7.8 ins (54 × 39 × 19.5 cm)

Gavin Watson

29 Wild at Hart

Oil on canvas 19.7 × 26 ins (50 × 66.5 cm)

Susan Angharad Williams

30 Poppies

Oil on linen 24.75 Ă— 22 ins (63 Ă— 56 cm)

Craig Wylie

31 Before the Game

Oil on canvas 39.5 × 39.5 ins (100.25 × 100.25 cm)

I would like to thank all my artists who have shown with the gallery.

I think in this catalogue we have a splendid selection of outstanding work. I am very proud of this group and also have fond memories of artists whom we have nurtured who no longer show with us, and are considered to be leaders in their fields.

I would like to give a heartfelt thanks to our clients. Without their support we would not have lasted a year, let alone thirty! Along the way we have met particularly loyal friends, some sadly no longer with us. These loyal friends will know who they are. I’m particularly thankful to my family who at times have been a rock when things are tough, but we have survived, and thrived. What a wonderful way to live a life.

Jonathan Cooper

Beverly Allen Beverly Allen (b. 1945, Sydney, Australia) has exhibited annually at the Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney ‘Botanica’ Exhibition since 1999, and internationally including in New York, Washington, Chicago, Amsterdam, Tokyo, Kyoto and London. She was awarded a Gold Medal at the Royal Horticultural Society Show in

in Mexico City, San Francisco, Houston, and Toronto. She has developed a highly imaginative pictorial language, taking influences from Indian Mughal miniatures, Persian textiles, and medieval tapestries to create her own unique decorative style.

In 2015 she was chosen to be Elephant Family’s Official Artist of the year, and continues to be closely involved with the charity.

London in 2007, the inaugural Gold Medal in 2011 for Botanical Art at the New York Botanic Garden and the Silver Medal in 2014. Her paintings are included in the Highgrove Florilegium for the Prince of Wales’s Charitable Trust and in the collections of the Botanic Gardens Trust Sydney, the RHS Lindley Library, the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, the Hunt Institute in Pittsburgh, the Isaac and Alisa Sutton Collection, and the collection of Dr Shirley Sherwood OBE. She co-founded and is president of the Florilegium Society at the Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney.

Geneviève Daël Geneviève Daël (b. 1947, Paris) lives and works in Montmartre.

She studied Decorative Arts at the Académie Charpentier. After a brief period spent living in London she returned to Paris, where she began to study painting independently, and worked as model for Dior while developing her artistic practise. Her first solo exhibition was held in 1984 with Francis Kyle, London, with whom she had nine further solo shows, along with many themed group exhibitions. Her first solo show with Jonathan Cooper was

Michael J Austin

held in 2016.

Michael J Austin (b. 1959, UK) lives and works in Devon. In 2003 he was invited by HRH the Prince of Wales to accompany

Alison Elliott

him to India and Oman as Tour Artist, and in November 2016

Alison Elliott trained at Winchester School of Art and Newcastle

he accompanied HRH the Prince of Wales to the Gulf States

Polytechnic. Taking her lead from the old masters, Elliott paints

of Oman, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain. He has also

in a classical style utilising tried and tested techniques in oil.

exhibited at international galleries including the Eleanor Ettinger

In her canine portraits she aims to capture the spirit of her

Gallery, New York and Everard Read, Johannesburg.

subjects, which she highlights by ‘cutting them out’ of their environment and placing them against a neutral background.

Harriet Bane Harriet Bane (b. 1958, Bath) lives and works in Guernsey. She graduated from Wimbledon School of Art, where she received a BA (Hons) in Stage and Theatre Design. This training continues to inform her practise, as she strives to ensure a coherent and

This minimal approach, combined with an almost obsessive level of detail in her brush strokes, firmly places each animal as the epicentre of the painting. Each portrait is painted on a gesso panel in four layers, which enables her to achieve a precise level of detail.

unified composition, working and reworking the backgrounds

To discuss the process, schedule, and pricing of Alison Elliott’s

of her paintings to achieve the right landscape as her starting

portrait commissions please contact the gallery.

point. This care is also reflected in her technique, as she applies multiple layers of plaster on board to build texture, followed by a layer of acrylic paint on which the watercolour is worked. She is inspired by nineteenth-century recorders of Natural History, such as John James Audubon, executing her subjects in a style that is entirely her own.

Tanya Brett

Fenella Elms Fenella Elms’ Studio is based on the edge of the Wiltshire Downs in the heart of the British countryside. She first discovered working with clay when she was taught to throw by a school teacher who enthusiastically took her class to visit a Lucy Rie exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1981.

She sought out workshops and classes over the years until she

Tanya Brett (b.1974, UK) lives and works in London. One of the

was given a wheel in 2004, which quickly led her to study for

UK’s leading animalier sculptors working in ceramic and bronze,

an Art Foundation and HNC in ceramics at Swindon College in

her works have been commissioned by Marco Pierre White, for

2008. Fenella has undertaken numerous international public

his restaurants Wheeler’s of St James’s and Wheeler’s at the

and private commissions, and her work has been purchased for

Kings Arms Inn, West Sussex and the late Lord Alistair McAlpine,

exhibition in both museum and privately held collections.

for his Italian Garden and The Plantation House, Mustique.

David Grossmann Rebecca Campbell

David Grossmann (b.1984, Colorado, USA) moved as a two-

Rebecca Campbell (b.1965, Stamford, Lincolnshire) lives and

year-old child with his family to Chile, only returning to the USA

works in South London. She trained at the City and Guilds of

at the age of fourteen. In these formative years he developed

London Art School and in 2005 was awarded the Discerning

a profound love of nature, and an appreciation of the extreme

Eye - Chairman’s Purchase Prize, Mall Galleries. In addition to

beauty of his new home’s towering Andes, barren deserts,

solo shows at Jonathan Cooper, Campbell has also exhibited

and fertile valleys. This appreciation was only amplified by his

experience of growing up between two cultures and languages,

the Chinese Painting Committee. He Xi has been the subject

and led him to seek solace in nature, and expression through

of numerous solo exhibitions in museums such as the China

the visual language of art. After earning degrees in Business and

Academy of Art Museum, the Suzhou Museum, and Taipei

Spanish, David attended the Colorado Academy of Art, where

Changjiang Art Center.

he first began to train in plein air painting. Since then, David has travelled across Colorado, the western United States, and abroad, finding inspiration in Patagonia, Eastern Europe, Africa,

Ron Kingswood

Asia and Central America. Whichever location has inspired his

Ron Kingswood (b. 1959, Ontario, Canada) currently lives

works, they are characterised by their understated sense of

and works in Sparta, Ontario. He incorporates his love of

tranquillity, and simplified rhythms of colour, light, and shade.

nature with a highly subjective approach, combining painterly brushwork and inventive compositions with his desire to

Tim Hayward

convey the extraordinary power and beauty of colour. He studied at H.B Beal in London, Ontario and received a degree

Tim Hayward (b.1952, UK) lives and works in Devon. Prior to

in Bird Ecology and Ornithology from the University of Western

joining Jonathan Cooper in 2000 he enjoyed a career as a

Ontario. He has exhibited internationally in both private

respected wildlife illustrator, working for the Royal Society for

galleries and museums, and his work is included in several

the Protection of Birds, Readers Digest, Hamlyn Publishers, and

public collections, including the National Museum of Wildlife

Zoobooks – San Diego, amongst others. His work is included

Art, Wyoming, USA; the Ella Sharp Museum of Art, Michigan,

in the Natural History Museum, London, and the Noorder Dierenpark, Netherlands, and prominent private collections worldwide, including those of the Duke of Bedford, Lady Salisbury, the Duchess of Richmond, and the Burj Al Arab Hotel, Dubai.

Ben Henriques Born in Cheshire in 1967, Ben Henriques divides his time between the West Highlands of Scotland and London. At the age of nine the family moved to Scotland, where he was schooled before attending the University of Newcastle from 1986 to 1990. After graduating with a degree in Fine Art he settled in London, at Brixton where he shared a run-down flat with

USA; Foothills Art Center, Colorado, USA; the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wisconsin, USA; Museum London, Ontario, Canada, and the Virginia Museum of Fine Art, Virginia, USA.

Jay Kirkman Born in 1958 in Los Angeles, California, Jay Kirkman moved to the UK in 1973, studying at the West Surrey College of Art and Camberwell School of Art. Among Britain’s foremost equestrian artists, he perfectly captures the essence of his subjects whether working in oil or pastel.

Edmund Chamberlain, an early formative influence. At the end

T. Allen Lawson

of this period he achieved success, exhibiting a self-portrait at

T. Allen Lawson (b. 1963, Sheridan, Wyoming, USA) lives and

the National Portrait Gallery and a joint show with the American

works between Rockport, Maine, and Wyoming. He has won

painter, Daniel Lang in Glasgow at the William Hardie Gallery.

numerous awards including the 2017 Prix de West Purchase

After several years he moved to a flat at Borough Market. From

Award and Robert Lougheed Memorial Artists’ Choice Award,

1994 to 1995 he travelled and painted extensively in South Asia.

Prix de West; the 2016 Directors’ Choice for Outstanding

On his return both Lefevre and Browse and Darby traded and

Landscape and the Robert Lougheed Memorial Artists’ Choice

exhibited his early still life paintings and Agnew’s displayed a

Award, both Prix de West; and the 2010 Founder’s Prize, Lyme

room of his work in 1999. In 2001 Jonathan Cooper launched his

Academy College of Fine Arts. In 2008, he was chosen by the

first solo show, Paintings - Drawings 1997-2001.

President and First Lady to create the painting for the official White House Christmas card. His work is shown in public

He Xi

collections, including the Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO; the Buffalo Bill Center of the West, Cody, WY; Farnsworth Art

He Xi (b.1960, Beijing) lives and works in Shanghai. He trained

Museum, Rockland, ME; Forbes Magazine Collection, New

at the Shanghai Arts & Crafts Vocational College, and the

York, NY; Portland Museum of Art, Portland, ME; Yale University

Chinese Painting Department of the Zhejiang Academy of Art

Art Gallery, New Haven, CT; and the Smithsonian Institution,

(now the China Academy of Art). Of exceptional quality, his

Washington, DC.

work is informed by the great tradition of Chinese painting, but firmly characterised by the artist’s unique vision and style.

Quietly humorous and often enigmatic, his paintings explore the

James Lynch

themes of freedom versus containment, finding a reflection of

James Lynch (b. 1956, Wiltshire) is a self-taught artist who has

the human condition in the natural world. He is a member and

mastered his favoured medium of egg tempera. Employing

Creative Research Director of the Chinese Painting Institute of

the same technique as his medieval forebears, he prepares

Shanghai; a member of the China Artists Association; a syndic

the gesso ground of his pictures by hand, painting successive

of the Shanghai Artists Association, and a committeeman of

coats onto panel before stippling the final layer for a slightly

rougher surface. The hens which populate his Somerset garden provide the egg yolks needed for a painting, which he mixes with pigments and a little water. The numerous layers of this fast-drying medium retain their transparency, allowing light to filter through and reflect the white gesso ground below, imbuing each picture with a rich luminosity. His work is included in the National Trust collections at Kingston Lacy, Wimpole Hall, and Chartwell. In June 2017 a major new commission, Looking South from Stoke Camp, was unveiled at the re-opening of the Somerset Rural Life Museum, Glastonbury.

Alla Polkovnichenko Born in 1986 in Taganrog, Russia, Alla Polkovnichenko lives, works, and teaches in Moscow. From 1999 - 2003 she studied at the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Tajikistan, in the studio of M.A. Oskina, followed from 2003 - 2007 by the Rostov State Pedagogical University (now PI SFU), in the studio of S.V. Eremina. She completed her training between 2007-2013 at the Moscow State Academy of Architecture, and the Moscow State Academic Art Institute named after V.I. Surikov at the Russian Academy of Arts, in the workshop of VM. Sidorova. In 2013 she was awarded a Gold Medal by the Russian Academy of

Tom Mabon

Arts “For Success in Education”.

Tom Mabon (b. 1956 Kirkcaldy, Fife) trained at Gray’s School of Art, Aberdeen. He has lived on the Black Isle since 1985, and his paintings are a documentation of the shifting seasons and wildlife he has witnessed there. He has won many awards since graduating including the Royal Glasgow Institute Armour Award in 2012 and a major prize at the 7th Cleveland International Drawing Biennale in 1985.

Andrew Macara

Rosie Sanders Rosie Sanders is one of the UK’s leading botanical artists, and is internationally celebrated for her striking watercolour paintings of flowers. A member of the Linnean Society, she is self-taught, and has won several awards including the Royal Academy Miniature Award and five Royal Horticultural Society Gold Medals. Her work was included in the inaugural exhibition at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art, Kew Gardens, in 2008, and is also in

Andrew Macara (b. 1944, Derbyshire) lives and works in Derby.

the collection of the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation.

Although he studied for a brief period with Leonard Fuller at

She is the author of several books, including The English Apple,

the St Ives School of Painting he considers himself to be a

published by Phaidon Press in 1980 and re-designed, updated

predominantly self-taught artist. In 1984 he was elected to the

and republished as The Apple Book by Frances Lincoln in 2010.

New English Art Club, and his work is held in prestigious public,

In 2016 her work was feted in the publication Rosie Sanders’

private, and corporate collections including those of Sir Anthony

Flowers: A Celebration of Botanical Art, published by Batsford

and Lady Bamford, Lloyds TSB, the Hilton Hotel Group, and the

Press.

New Parliamentary Building, Westminster. He travels extensively, gathering materials for his joyful landscape scenes worldwide.

Kate Nessler

Harry Steen Harry Steen (b. 1977) lives and works in Calgary, Alberta. He graduated from the University of Calgary with a BFA in Art in

Kate Nessler (b.1950, Saint Louis Missouri, USA) lives and

2002, and has held three solo shows with Jonathan Cooper.

works in Arkansas. Her work is included in international

Always enigmatic, Steen’s light-filled paintings are infused with

permanent collections, including the Highgrove Florilegium,

longing for lost and rapidly changing worlds. The myths and

Prince of Wales’s Charitable Foundation, London, the Royal

legends of Ancient Greece and Rome fascinate the artist, whose

Horticulture Society, London, the collection of Dr Shirley

atmospheric interior scenes are peopled by Hellenic gods such

Sherwood OBE, London, the National Museum of Women in

as Eurydice and Aphrodite.

the Arts, Washington, DC, and the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation, Pittsburgh, PA. Having trained at the Kendall School of Design, Michigan, USA, Nessler has gone on to

Gary Stinton

win many awards including three Royal Horticultural Society

Gary Stinton (b. 1961, UK) lives and works in Herefordshire.

Gold Medals, and the Award of Excellence for the Outstanding

Producing bold and impressive portraits of big cats and hounds,

Botanical Artist at the American Society of Botanical Artists.

he seeks to portray their power, strength and formidable beauty.

His preferred medium of pastel on museum board (a pure

Nicholas Phillips

and archival material with strong pigments) not only perfectly captures the texture of fur, but also ensures the longevity of the

Born in Penang, Malaya, Nicholas Phillips spent his first six

artwork. He has been represented by Jonathan Cooper for over

years on a plantation in the northern state of Kedah. After

15 years, in numerous solo shows and international art fairs. His

returning to England with his family he then trained at the Sade

work is included in the permanent collection of the Museum of

School of Art, graduating in 1978. His work has been exhibited

Hounds and Hunting, Virginia, USA, alongside prestigious private

in Tokyo, Zurich, New York and London, and is held in the Yale

collections worldwide.

Centre for British Art, Harvard’s Houghton Library, the New York Public Library, and in London in the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Science Museum, and the Arts Council Collection.

Fiona Strickland Fiona Strickland (b. 1956, Edinburgh) is a Graduate and Post Graduate of Edinburgh College of Art. She is a multi-award winner and RHS. Gold Medallist, recipient of the Dawn Jolliffe

local use of natural materials and pigments. Her work has been exhibited in the Victoria and Albert Museum, and in 2007 she was invited to illustrate Richard Mabey’s limited-edition publication Whistling in the Dark - In Pursuit of the Nightingale.

Botanical Art Bursary (awarded by the Royal Horticultural Society), and the American Society of Botanical Artists and the Horticultural Society of New York’s ‘Best in Show’, 2015.

A member of the American Society of Botanical Artists, she tutors botanical art internationally. Her paintings are held in the RHS Lindley Library, the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation, the collection of Dr Shirley Sherwood OBE, and numerous private collections in the UK, Europe and the USA.

Marzio Tamer Marzio Tamer (b. 1964, Schio, Italy) lives and works in Milan. A self-taught painter, he has always been drawn to nature, taking inspiration from the natural landscape and its animal inhabitants.

Using a restricted palette of few colours, he isolates his subject against the canvas, creating a ‘suspended background’ which despite its emptiness economically communicates a unique sense of space and atmosphere. His work is in the collection of the Denver Art Museum, USA, and has been exhibited in museums in both Europe and the USA. In 2016 he was the subject of a major retrospective exhibition, Nature: The Art of Marzio Tamer at the Science Museum, Trento, Italy, and again in 2017-2018 at the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale, Milan.

Marzio Tamer is represented by Lorenza Salamon of Salamon Fine Art, Milan.

Nicholas Turner

Gavin Watson Gavin Watson (b. 1962, UK) lives and works in rural Northumberland, and is inspired by the landscape and history of the region, and by the rich experience of his North East childhood. His paintings have been exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery, London, and the Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, and are held in private collections in the UK, US, and Europe.

Susan Angharad Williams Susan Angharad Williams (b. 1943, Glamorgan, South Wales) lives and works in Kent. Williams studied at the Bath Academy of Art, before undertaking her Fine Art Masters at the Royal College of Art in 1969, where she studied under the tutelage of Sir Peter Blake and Donald Hamilton Fraser, and graduated with distinction. In 2007, she won the ING Purchase Prize in the Discerning Eye Exhibition, the Mall Galleries, London.

This resulted in a solo show at the ING Bank Headquarters in 2008. Williams’ work is displayed in several public collections including the ING Art Collection, the Royal College of Art, and Carlisle Art Gallery.

Craig Wylie Craig Wylie (b. 1973, Masvingo, Zimbabwe) is collected internationally, with exhibitions in the UK, US, Germany, Hong Kong, France and Belgium. He has won numerous

Nicholas Turner RWA (b.1972, London) lives in Monmouthshire,

awards including First Prize in the prestigious BP Portrait

Wales. After a Foundation Course in Art and Design in Bristol,

Award, as well as the London Region Prize at the Hunting

Nicholas achieved a BA (Hons) in Fine Art from UWE Bristol

Prize held at the Royal College of Art, London. His work is in

and in 2003 was elected an Academician of the Royal West

the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery and

of England Academy, serving on its governing council. He

that of the Neuer Kunstverein, Aschaffenburg, Germany.

has exhibited widely and his work is held in public collections including the Royal Collection, the RWA Permanent Collection, the Talboys Bequest RWA, and numerous private collections across the UK, Japan, USA, Italy and Israel.

Georgina Warne Georgina Warne (b. 1967) lives and works in Norfolk. She is a ceramicist and printmaker, and often combines both practices, printing directly on to clay, in addition to hand painting her works. An upbringing on a Suffolk smallholding first kindled her interest in the natural world, a theme which continued to fascinate her as she undertook her BA and MA under the eminent ceramicists Mick Casson, Alan Barrett-Danes, and Geoffrey Swindell. This was followed by a Commonwealth

Jonathan Cooper 20 Park Walk London SW10 0AQ t: +44 (0)20 7351 0410 mail@jonathancooper.co.uk jonathancooper.co.uk

Foundation Fellowship spent in Papua New Guinea in 1994, which allowed her to further her study of the universal

Catalogue compiled by Rebecca Wall

relationship between art and nature, and to examine the

Designed by Graham Rees Design

Jonathan Cooper