Mary Newcomb

MARY NEWCOMB

The rower and the dog: setting out light fading watercolour 26.3 x 39cm

Mary Newcomb Estate

M A R Y N E W C O M B‘ S O D D U N I V E R S E A Memorial Exhibition celebrating the work of Mary Newcomb (1922-2008)

Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery

Crane Kalman Gallery, London

9th May 2009 - 28th June 2009

17th September 2009 - 31st October 2009

Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery Shirehall, Market Avenue, Norwich NR1 3JQ Tel: 01603 493625 Fax: 01603 493623

CRANE KALMAN GALLERY Ltd 178 Brompton Road, London SW3 1HQ Tel: 020 7584 7566 Fax: 020 7584 3843 ckg.ltd@virgin.net www.cranekalman.com

Mary and the Newcomb’s gypsy caravan c1964

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Mar y Newcomb’s Odd Universe FIRE, EARTH, WATER, AIR Rural visionary Mary Newcomb (1922 -2008) was a self-taught painter whose work is both unique and universal – growing from her life on Waveney Valley farms in the 1950s to a late blooming in airy poetry.

Mary Slatford was born in Harrow-on-the-Hill and raised in Wiltshire. She trained in science and first drew birds at Flatford Mill Field Studies Centre in 1945, meeting husband Godfrey Newcomb on a bittern-boosting trip to Walberswick soon afterwards. They farmed and potted as Mary found her vocation as a lyrical painter, which she was to pursue in a series of old Norfolk or Suffolk houses. She explored East Anglia on foot, bicycle, bus, train and boat, and also travelled further afield – from Orkney to the South of France – as an acute and almost invisible observer amassing notes, sketches and memories for odd pictures like visual poems.

Praised by Ben Nicholson and collected by media stars, Mary Newcomb remained entirely unaffected, communicating the joy of living in the countryside amid rural rites and rituals and the wonders of nature. She is now one of Britain’s best-loved post-war painters, with works in many private and public collections.

This memorial exhibition, first at Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery and then at Crane Kalman Gallery in London (17th September - 31st October 2009), reveals all the elements of Newcomb’s extraordinary work as a former potter, moving via early earthy paintings and watery images to the poetry of flying things (insects, birds, balloons, planets).

It is also a tribute to Andras Kalman (1919 - 2007), the artist’s key champion, who nurtured her fame with more than a dozen solo shows from 1970.

All thanks go to Mary’s daughters Hannah and Tessa and to the private collectors who have generously lent their pictures. The film shot by Caroline McAdam Clark in Mary’s Suffolk studio in 2003 has been produced thanks to funds from the East Anglia Art Fund and Crane Kalman Gallery.

Ian Collins

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The boat party late evening 1988 oil on canvas 76 x 91.5cm

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The balloon race 1968 oil on board 71 x 81cm

Crane Kalman Gallery

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The lady with a bunch of sweet williams 1988 oil on board 56 x 56cm

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These sheep find it necessary to cross the bridge 1979 oil on board 51 x 60.5cm

Crane Kalman Gallery

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A flock of goldfinches dispersing 1993-5 oil on canvas 101.5 x 76cm

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The little lighthouse town 1980 watercolour 21.5 x 16cm

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The little lighthouse town 1982 oil on canvas 91.5 x 96.5cm

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River boat trip 1969 oil on board 61 x 72cm

Crane Kalman Gallery

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Thinking on comets, man and beast 1974 oil on board 48 x 61cm

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Too much these dandelion lands 1974 oil on board 57.8 x 70.5cm

Crane Kalman Gallery

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Girl with the dalmatian 1988 oil on board 53.5 x 56cm

Mary Newcomb Estate

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The court fields 1975 oil on board 75 x 91.5cm

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Suffolk clun-cross ewe with two lambs 1983 oil on canvas

Mary Newcomb Estate

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Boat in a low setting sun casting its shadow over the reeds as it passes 1986

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Shadow falling on a Tamworth sow 1991 oil on board 45.5 x 63cm

Crane Kalman Gallery

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A hedge in November - spindle, sloe - old man’s beard - blackthorn - blackberry (with trailing goose grass) 1984 oil on canvas 91.5 x 129.5cm

Crane Kalman Gallery

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Huts in a clearing 1970 oil on board 63.5 x 76cm

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Friars Hill, Blakeney Freshes, (shelducks leaving their rabbit holes in the morning) 1993 oil on board 56 x 66cm

Mary Newcomb Estate

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The butterfly arena (the castle ruins, Hyères) 1989 oil on canvas 134.5 x 103cm

Mary Newcomb Estate

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The demoiselles (a warm July evening Bradford-on-Avon) 1983 oil on canvas 127 x 165cm

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55 Insects on hogweed 1993 pencil and watercolour 28 x 38cm

Mary Newcomb Estate

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Lady in an unsprayed field seen in passing 1988 oil on board 60.9 x 44cm

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Red and yellow tulips 1998 oil on board 71 x 58.5cm

Mary Newcomb Estate

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The apple pickers feast 1971 oil on board 64.5 x 76cm

Crane Kalman Gallery

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The brooding rook’s heaven 2001 oil on canvas 101.5 x 91.5cm

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Late May evening 1998 oil on board 52 x 54.5cm

Mary Newcomb Estate

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Museums and Public Galleries that have acquired paintings from Crane Kalman Galler y Aberdeen Art Gallery, Aberdeen, Scotland

Arts Council of Great Britain, London, England

Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide

Imperial War Museum, London, England

Baltimore Museum of Art, USA

Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England

Ulster Museum, Belfast, Northern Ireland

Museum of London, England

University Art Museum, Berkeley, California

Whitworth Art Gallery, University of Manchester, England

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston , USA

City Art Gallery, Manchester, England

National Museum of Wales, Cardiff

Felton Bequest, Melbourne, England

Yale Center for British Art, Connecticut, USA

Milwaukee Art Museum, Wisconsin, USA

Dundee Art Gallery, Dundee, Scotland

Stadtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich, Germany

National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, Ireland

Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA

Kunstmuseum, D端sseldorf, Germany Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh

Andrew Dickinson White Museum of Art, Cornell University, New York, USA

Glasgow Museums and Art Galleries, Glasgow, Scotland

Toledo Museum of Art, Ohio, USA

Hiroshima Prefectural Art Museum, Japan

Louvre, Paris, France

City Art Gallery, Leicester, England

Western Australia Art Gallery, Perth, Australia

Musee des Beaux Arts, Le Havre, France

Rochdale Art Gallery, Rochdale, England

Musee Malraux, Le Harve, France

Museum of S達o Paulo, Brazil

Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, England

Art Gallery of New South Wales, Australia

Tate Gallery, London, England

National Gallery of New South Wales, Wellington

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Biography

Public Collections

1922

Tate Gallery, London

Mary Slatford born in Harrow-on-the-Hill

1943 Receives BSc in Natural Sciences from Reading University 1944-1950 Teaches science and mathematics at Bath High School; marries Godfrey Newcomb, farmer and later potter in 1950 1950-1971 Lives in Norfolk and has two daughters 1971-1981 Lives in Suffolk; in 1981 receives award from Eastern Arts Association 1984-1999 Lives outside Norwich

Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, Norwich Arts Council of Great Britain Contemporary Art Society, London Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin Museum of Modern Art, New York National Gallery of New Zealand, Wellington Museum of São Paulo, Brazil

1999-2008 Lives in Suffolk

Kunstmuseum, Düsseldorf

1987 The Contemporary Art Society acquires one painting; the Arts Council of Great Britain acquire two paintings

Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery, Norwich

1996-1997 A fully illustrated monograph written by Christopher Andreae is published by Crane Kalman in association with Lund Humphries The Tate Gallery, London acquires a large painting entitled ‘People Walking Amongst Small Sandhills’ 2003 Mary has a stroke in October and is no longer able to paint but still has a lively interest in looking at paintings 2006

Christopher Andreae’s monograph is re-printed

2008

Dies at Ipswich Hospital 29 March

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Chronological List of Work s Mary Newcomb’s Odd Universe Works are from Private Collections unless stated otherwise

Oil paintings 1

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Red boats 1965 oil on board 58.5 x 78.5cm

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Pippin on a painted table 1965-8 oil on board 68.5 x 53.5cm Mary Newcomb Estate

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Bridge and estuary 1967 oil on board 74 x 90cm

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Sheep 1967 oil on board 68 x 73.5cm

Cork Harbour 1968 oil on board 75 x 75cm

Festival 1964 oil on board 63.5 x 91.5cm

Cowslips in moonlight 1967 oil on board 69 x 88cm

Moths and men with hay 1960 oil on board Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery

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The balloon race 1968 oil on board 71 x 81cm

10 Two lighthouses on the bay 1968 oil on board 69 x 79cm

11 River boat trip 1969 oil on board 61 x 72cm

12 Passage from Hull 1969 oil on board 70 x 79cm Archant Art Collection

13 Huts in a clearing 1970 oil on board 63.5 x 76cm

14 The duck farm 1970 oil on board 51 x 61cm

15 Fishermen with beach fires 1971 oil on board 51 x 61cm

16 Bees 1971 oil on board 60 x 70cm

17 The apple pickers feast 1971 oil on board 64.5 x 76cm Crane Kalman Gallery

18 Field workers resting 1972 oil on board 68.5 x 71cm Mary Newcomb Estate

19 Too much these dandelion lands 1974 oil on board 57.8 x 70.5cm Crane Kalman Gallery

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20 Thinking on comets, man and beast 1974 oil on board 48 x 61cm

21 The court fields 1975 oil on board 75 x 91.5cm

22 The fĂŞte 1976 oil on board Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery

23 Girl jumping for sweet chestnuts 1976 oil on board 22 x 24cm

24 Jubilee Holton!

1977 oil on canvas 91.5 x 91.5cm Crane Kalman Gallery

25 These sheep find it necessary to cross the bridge 1979 oil on board 51 x 60.5cm Crane Kalman Gallery

26 A covered market hall, early morning, France 1980 oil on canvas 71.5 x 86.5cm Crane Kalman Gallery

27 The little lighthouse town 1982 oil on canvas 91.5 x 96.5cm Crane Kalman Gallery

28 May 11th 10pm 1983 Iris-Iraki Alcock, our new comet 1983 oil on board 49 x 58cm

29 The demoiselles (a warm July evening Bradford-on-Avon) 1983 oil on canvas 127 x 165cm

30 Suffolk clun-cross ewe with two lambs 1983 oil on canvas Mary Newcomb Estate

31 Four guinea fowl 1983 oil on canvas 91.5 x 61cm Crane Kalman Gallery

32 A hedge in November - spindle, sloe - old man’s beard - blackthorn blackberry (with trailing goose grass) 1984 oil on canvas 91.5 x 129.5cm Crane Kalman Gallery

33 Sailing boat on the Yare 1984 oil on board 49 x 49cm

34 The chrysanthemum tent 1984 oil on canvas 91.5 x 91.5cm

35 The evening river trip 1985 oil on canvas 87 x 102cm Crane Kalman Gallery

36 Boat in a low setting sun casting its shadow over the reeds as it passes 1986 oil on canvas 106.7 x 128.3cm

37 The lady with a bunch of sweet williams 1988 oil on board 56 x 56cm

38 The boat party late evening 1988 oil on canvas 76 x 91.5cm

39 Lady in an unsprayed field seen in passing 1988 oil on board 60.9 x 44cm

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40 Girl with the dalmatian

46 Suffolk ewe sitting down

1988 oil on board 53.5 x 56cm Mary Newcomb Estate

1992 oil on canvas Mary Newcomb Estate

41 Wild flowers will soften the stiffest lady 1988 oil on board 86.5 x 64.5cm Mary Newcomb Estate

42 The butterfly arena (the castle ruins, Hyères) 1989 oil on canvas 134.5 x 103cm Mary Newcomb Estate

43 The cockerel at the poultry show 1990 oil on board 51 x 45.5cm Mary Newcomb Estate

44 Garden above the sea, Le Lavandou 1990 oil on canvas 71.5 x 56.5cm Crane Kalman Gallery

45 Shadow falling on a Tamworth sow 1991 oil on board 45.5 x 63cm Crane Kalman Gallery

47 Pippin 1993 oil on board 46 x 41.5cm

48 Friars Hill, Blakeney Freshes, (shelducks leaving their rabbit holes in the morning) 1993 oil on board 56 x 66cm Mary Newcomb Estate

49 A flock of goldfinches dispersing 1993-5 oil on canvas 101.5 x 76cm

50 An outing to see the seals, Blakeney 1994 oil on canvas 114.5 x 103cm Mary Newcomb Estate

51 Boats on the Waveney 1995/6 oil on canvas 101 x 101cm

52 Train in the heartlands of Norfolk (I am one of the moon faces that pass in the train) 1996 oil on canvas 45 x 49cm

53 Flowers on a painted table 1996 oil on canvas 86.5 x 71cm Mary Newcomb Estate

54 The cherry lovers 1996 oil on board 76 x 54.5cm Mary Newcomb Estate

53 The cherry boat docking 1997 oil on board 73.5 x 73.5 Mary Newcomb Estate

56 Red and yellow tulips 1998 oil on board 71 x 58.5cm Mary Newcomb Estate

57 Collared doves lifted by light 1998 oil on canvas 69 x 73.5cm Mary Newcomb Estate

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58 Late May evening 1998 oil on board 52 x 54.5cm Mary Newcomb Estate

59 Norfolk grey cockerel 1999 oil on board 53.5 x 58.5cm

60 Study for mullein moth caterpillar on leaf of buddleia globosa, mullein verbasculum nearby, month of July 2000 oil on board 48 x 40.5cm Mary Newcomb Estate

61 Red-tailed bees on artichoke 2000 oil on board 51 x 35.5cm Mary Newcomb Estate

62 Drift me home at the end of the day 2000 oil on board 61 x 46cm Mary Newcomb Estate

63 The brooding rook’s heaven 2001 oil on canvas 101.5 x 91.5cm

64 Women with blown skirts 2001 oil on board 52 x 43cm Mary Newcomb Estate

65 Young peacock in an astonished garden 2003 oil on board 51 x 61cm Mary Newcomb Estate

66 Goldfinches oil on board 28 x 26.5cm

Work on paper 67 Fenland Orchard Elisabeth Vellacott: (1905 -2002) c1970 lithograph 30.5 x 43cm

68 Ewes watching shooting stars 1990 pencil and watercolour 28 x 25.5cm

69 The rook 2002 watercolour 37 x 28.5cm Mary Newcomb Estate

70 The rower and the dog: setting out light fading: returning in the dusk watercolour 91.5 x 45.5cm Mary Newcomb Estate

71 Weasel moving young mixed media 32 x 24 cm Mary Newcomb Estate

72 The little lighthouse town watercolour 21.5 x 16cm

73 Blackbirds in a crabapple tree watercolour 19.5 x 12cm

74 Green Woodpeckers watercolour 20.5 x 29cm

75 Insects on hogweed pencil and watercolour 28 x 38cm

76 Bombus terrestris (buff-tailed bumble bee) and other bees pencil and watercolour 19 x 30.5cm

77 House Martins pencil and watercolour 33 x 25.5cm

78 Workers being lowered as the sun goes down pencil and watercolour 30.5 x 20cm

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79 Beetles drinking in a shrinking puddle pencil and watercolour 26.5 x 20.5cm

80 Fox pencil and watercolour 20.5 x 15cm

81 Photographs: a selection of eleven photographs dating from 1940 - 1990s photographs

82 Portfolio of birthday/ Xmas cards 83 Ewe and lamb pencil 32 x 26cm

84 Old ewe watercolour 33 x 42cm

85 Pheasants watercolour 19 x 24cm

86 Dorset ewe watercolour 25.5 x 28cm

87 Ewe watercolour 55 x 44cm

Ceramics and furniture 88 Bowl c1958 ceramic 11cm high

89 Jug c1958 ceramic 15.5cm high

90/ A group of five pots - three plates, 94 a jug and a mug ceramic

95 Colander decorated by Mary ceramic 9.5cm high, 18cm diameter

96 Mary’s jug - in her room at Priory Paddocks ceramic 21cm high

97 Jug by Godfrey Newcomb, 1950’s (shown in Red and yellow tulips painting) ceramic 28cm high

98 Ceramic cradle ceramic 18 x 24.5 x 13 cm Mary Newcomb Estate

99 Painted table c1960 painted wood 69cm high, 74cm diameter

The rower and the dog: returning in the dusk watercolour 30.3 x 38.3cm

Mary Newcomb Estate

Four guinea fowl 1983 oil on canvas 91.5 x 61cm

Crane Kalman Gallery