Mary Anne Aytoun Ellis - The Wood I Know

MARY ANNE AYTOUN ELLIS THE WOOD I KNOW 21 J U N E – 9 J ULY 20 21 Monday – Friday 10am – 6pm and by appointment

PORTLAND GALLE RY 3 BENNET STREET

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LONDON SW1A 1RP

T E L E P H O N E 020 7493 1888

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EMAIL art@portlandgallery.com

www.portlandgallery.com Front cover: The Wood I Know (detail) Egg tempera, watercolour and ink 55 x 59 ins Cat. no.2

INTRODUCTION A couple of years ago, conscious that my wife’s birthday was looming and I had as yet bought her nothing to mark it, I found myself window shopping among the retail therapists of London searching for inspiration. My odyssey had barely started as I headed up St. James’s Street, when I noticed that a new exhibition had opened in the recently refurbished Portland Gallery. Peering downwards you could just about catch glimpses of carefully painted atmospheric pictures by Mary Anne Aytoun Ellis. I saw immediately that I needed to look no further and chose a long, evocatively watery drawing which, fortunately, my wife liked as much as I did.

The paintings were inspired by the artist’s home county; the Sussex of the South Downs with its beech hangings, and its chalk streams which hurry in and out of the roots of the willows and alders lining their banks. The pictures were extraordinarily detailed, but nevertheless conveyed the secret feel of the hidden pools that we stumble on in chalkland valleys. I have spent much of my life in the winterbourne valleys of Dorset and recognised with a tug of emotion the skill with which the artist had captured the spirit of such places. They are timeless and beautiful, perhaps especially between the late autumn and the early spring when the water levels are high and the architectural quality of the trees is clearest.

Shortly afterwards the artist got in touch to ask whether we would lend the picture for an exhibition. As a result, we met Mary Anne Aytoun Ellis for the first time and she came to look at some of the ancient trees in Hatfield Park. I expected her to be taken with our veteran oaks, but she really fell in love with two extraordinary ash trees in a piece of woodland rather further away.

She asked to paint them and it immediately became clear whence the detailed nature of her work comes.

She spent about three months on and off working on what she called “a preliminary sketch.” The result was an immensely detailed work in pencil, pen and ink and gesso which conveyed the magical quality of these timeless wizards and which presented them in a way which made us all look at them afresh. The finished painting is indeed a remarkable achievement which fully matches the appeal of its pathfinder.

The paintings in Mary-Anne’s present exhibition show all the characteristics we know and love in her; mastery of detail based on knowledge of the structure of what she is painting and the ability to convey a sense of place because she is rooted in the country she depicts. The exhibition will be a great success and will reinforce the feeling among those who own one of her works how lucky they are to do so.

The Marquess of Salisbury

Hidden Oak Egg tempera, watercolour, gesso and ink 60 x 55 ins Catalogue no.1

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The Way Watercolour and gesso 44 x 62 ins Catalogue no.4

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Moonlit Quiet Egg tempera, watercolour and gesso 57 x 54 ins Catalogue no.3

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Knot Garden Watercolour 7 x 10 ins Catalogue no.20

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Earthwork Egg tempera, pencil and watercolour 12 x 9 ins Catalogue no.16

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The Wood I Know Egg tempera, watercolour and ink 55 x 59 ins Catalogue no.2

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Nightingale Egg tempera, watercolour and gesso 8 x 11 ins Catalogue no.18

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Martinmas Egg tempera, watercolour and gesso 12 x 12 ins Catalogue no.15

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Remnant - Ancient Ash Pollards Pencil, gesso and watercolour 41 x 50 ins Catalogue no.5

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Vixen Egg tempera, watercolour and gesso 12 x 20 ins Catalogue no.12

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OPPOSITE

ABOVE

OVERLEAF

Frost

Watcher

Gateway

Ink, watercolour and gesso 15 x 13 ins

Pencil, watercolour and gesso 11 x 9 ins

Egg tempera, watercolour, pen and ink

Catalogue no.14

Catalogue no.17

Catalogue no.9

9 x 16 ins

23

Pines Egg tempera, pencil and gesso 16 x 20 ins Catalogue no.11

26

Luna Pen, ink, egg tempera and gesso 6 x 9 ins Catalogue no.26

28

England Pen, ink and gesso 6 x 8 ins Catalogue no.25

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30

Thorn Egg tempera, pencil and watercolour 17 x 24 ins Catalogue no.10

Weald Egg tempera, pencil and watercolour 7 x 9 ins Catalogue no.22

31

Sallow Egg tempera, pen and ink 7 x 9 ins Catalogue no.23

Moon Pen, ink, egg tempera and gesso 6 x 9 ins Catalogue no.27

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Storm Egg tempera, pen, ink and gesso 6 x 9 ins Catalogue no.28

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Dog Egg tempera, watercolour and gesso 7 x 9 ins Catalogue no.21

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Tawny Egg tempera, watercolour and gesso 15 x 13 ins Catalogue no.13

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Where Kites Fly Pen, ink, gesso and watercolour 27 x 63 ins Catalogue no.6

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Follow the Wind Egg tempera, pencil and gesso 31 x 44 ins Catalogue no.7

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Constellation Egg tempera, pen, ink and gesso 7 x 9 ins Catalogue no.24

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MARY ANNE AYTOUN ELLIS SOLO EXHIBITIONS: 2021 The Wood I Know, Portland Gallery, London 2018 Springlines, St. Barbe Museum and Art Gallery, Hampshire 2017 Springlines, Tunbridge Wells Museum and Art Gallery 2017 Palimpsest, Portland Gallery, London 2015 Springlines, Glyndebourne Opera House 2014 Place and Memory, Portland Gallery, London 2012 Michaelmas Journey, Portland Gallery, London 2009 Thinking Places, Portland Gallery, London 2006 Stargazing, Portland Gallery, London 2003 Everyman's Journey, Portland Gallery, London 2001 Art 2001, The London Contemporary Art Fair 2000 Earth, Mountains, Rivers, Portland Gallery, London 1998 Visions of a Legend, Portland Gallery, London 1997 Recent paintings, Portland Gallery, London SELECTED GROUP SHOWS: 2021 Being With Trees, Gustavo Bacarisus Gallery, Gibraltar 2019 Romantics’, Romantic Art in the 21st century, St. Barbe Art Gallery, Hampshire 2018 Masterpiece, London with Portland Gallery 2017 Capture the Castle, British Artists and the Castle from Turner to Le Brun, Southampton City art Gallery with accompanying publication 2016 Contemporary Painting - The Arborealists, St. Barbe Art Gallery, Hampshire, with accompanying catalogue 2016 The Thread of Romanticism in British Art, Southampton City Art Gallery with accompanying catalogue 2015 The Arborealists, Mottisfont Abbey 2014 The Arborealists, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol Mary Anne has been represented by Portland Gallery, London since 1997 with her work in collections worldwide SCHOLARSHIPS 2006 2001 2000 2000 1999 1994 – 96 1992 – 93 1991

AND AWARDS INCLUDE: Iceland painting residency exploring landscape within the arctic circle Official tour artist to HRH The Prince of Wales for his visit to Canada Corsica painting residency Official tour artist to HRH The Prince of Wales for his visit to Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana and Jamaica The Discerning Eye ABN AMRO Award, First Prize Frans Masereel International Printmaking Centre, Belgium Erne Plachte Fine Art Fellowship, Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art, University of Oxford. First recipient of award Scholarship to Ecole des Beaux Arts, Paris

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CATALOGUE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35

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Hidden Oak The Wood I Know Moonlit Quiet The Way Remnant - Ancient Ash Pollards Where Kites Fly Follow the Wind Candlemas, Dawn Gateway Thorn Pines Vixen Tawny Frost Martinmas Earthwork Watcher Nightingale My Mother Knot Garden Dog Weald Sallow Constellation England Luna Moon Storm Rime Quickthorn Full Moon Summer Cloud Buzzard Wren

egg tempera, watercolour, gesso and ink egg tempera, watercolour and ink egg tempera, watercolour and gesso watercolour and gesso pencil, gesso and watercolour pen and ink, gesso and watercolour egg tempera, pencil and gesso egg tempera, watercolour, gesso and ink egg tempera and gesso egg tempera, pencil and watercolour egg tempera, pencil and gesso egg tempera, watercolour and gesso egg tempera, watercolour and gesso ink, watercolour and gesso egg tempera, watercolour and gesso egg tempera, pencil and watercolour pencil, watercolour and gesso egg tempera, watercolour and gesso egg tempera and watercolour watercolour egg tempera and watercolour pen, ink and gesso egg tempera, pen and ink egg tempera, pen, ink and gesso pen, ink and gesso egg tempera, pen and ink and gesso egg tempera, pen and ink and gesso egg tempera, pen and ink and gesso egg tempera and gesso egg tempera and gesso egg tempera and gesso egg tempera and gesso egg tempera and gesso egg tempera and gesso egg tempera and gesso

60 x 55 55 x 59 57 x 54 44 x 62 41 x 50 27 x 63 31 x 44 18 x 33 9 x 16 17 x 24 16 x 20 12 x 20 15 x 13 15 x 13 12 x 12 12 x 9 11 x 9 8 x 11 9x8 7 x 10 7x9 7x9 7x9 7x9 6x8 6x9 6x9 6x9 8 x 11 8 x 11 11 x 8 8 x 11 11 x 8 11 x 7 6x6