Sarah Armstrong-Jones

SARAH ARMSTRONG-JONES GATHERING

SARAH ARMSTRONG-JONES GATHERING

20 Cork Street London W1S 3H L +44 (0)20 7734 1732 info@redfern-gallery.com redfern-gallery.com

St u d i o Ta b l e 2 0 2 3 Pen and ink on paper 57.5 × 72.2 cm

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FOREWORD Jason Goodwin

Sarah’s previous show at Redfern in 2019, Pathways,

Sarah celebrates, too, their essential kinship. A sorority

followed the ar tist as she explored routes into her

of objects, drawn into a connecting line, forms a

surroundings. With these new works made during and

powerful lattice, and so the objects gathered around her

after lockdown, Gathering seems to take a homeward

are held in the artist’s eye, composed of observation

turn. After discovery, comes reflection.

and respect. Elements can be withdrawn towards various

Gathering flowers, mustering forces, bringing family

forms of abstraction without endangering the whole.

and friends together, even a return to conviviality after

Sarah was among a number of Redfern artists who were

the strictures of the pandemic, all offer the viewer

recently asked to respond to Matisse’s Red Studio, which

fruitful approaches to the new work. We can see Sarah

passed through the gallery during W WII: it would seem

gathering strands together, too, offering in her large line

that her considerations of space and belonging have

drawings, and the oils that they inspire, a reflection on

been informed by that study. Matisse tried to break

her own work and practice, contemplating the studio as

down all borders, subvert all hierarchies of seeing; Sarah

assemblage of the various components that make up an

does the opposite, patiently, lovingly delineating the

ar tist’s familiar environment.

surfaces that envelop her in the studio, very much from

The viewer may sense the way material things have been assembled, and linked together, in – and over – time, so that these studio pictures function as minute retrospectives, delving back into the ar tist’s creative history and forging a link with work-in-progress, and

her own position within it, while refusing the easy solace of colour. Matisse wanted to dissolve: Sarah appears to weave and anchor, and her austere line drawings are all the more striking because she has such a natural feeling for colour.

work yet to be made. We see canvases propped up at

That instinct stands out in her watercolours, so many

various angles echoed in the triangular setting of the

of them observing and acknowledging the passage of

trestles, cer tain lines of perspective, the slope and angle

time: the last of the tulips, sequences that reflect the

of brushes and doors, and frames hung crooked on the

advance of the seasons, changing moments in the day,

wall. They gather in time, like dust, but arrive together

simple and affecting indications of journeys done, fruit

to define the present moment.

collected, the passage of a raincloud. They reveal her 3

deeply peaceful, contemplative response in figures of

quiet, unemphatic intersection of planes in her studio

pure shape and clarity, translated to colour in that quiet

drawings; there is a lot of heart in these pictures. These

moment of communication when the colours sing out

are things she loves, collections of wild highland heathers

their truth. One detects an air of solemn reverence

and plants, views she absorbs on the chalky Downs,

and appreciation, even a kind of invocation, both in

accumulations of artistic paraphernalia that greet her in

watercolour and pencil, in attentive drawings which

her studio every working day.

possess a firmness and confidence that has developed, interestingly and not perhaps coincidentally, in tandem with her free-flowing set designs for the ballet, commissioned for the Royal Ballet’s Frederick Ashton retrospective.

Highlands, Downland, and Studioland: each realm is worth observing with the same fundamental seriousness, the engaged eye always enquiring, seeking to appreciate and understand. It is a liberal eye, that orders and gives balance to the components, according them a gentle

This show includes some of the largest canvases Sarah

respect, both individually and within a continuum. These

has produced, those Sussex landscapes. Here there’s

are the ar tist’s enveloping worlds, the vistas she registers

place for the chalk and the coombes, the grassland and

as they open out over the top of the easel or the

the sky, that in her mind’s eye she brings back to the

drawing book, with gathering strength and confidence,

studio from walks in the open. The smaller paintings

gathering beauty and delight.

achieve another level of abstraction, forms dissolving to the colours that have always been in her palette, woven from subtle affinities of tone and shade.

So the key to Sarah’s painterly eye may lie in her use of art to hold memory: whether it’s the flower paintings, made in the studio, of the collected grasses and heathers of her favourite place in the Scottish Highlands, or the tonal processes that transmute a walk on the Downs into the delicate colours of the larger canvases, or the 4

JG, 2023

St u d i o L i g h t 2 0 2 3 Oil on canva s 25.5 × 30.5 cm

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Wa l k i n g t h e D o w n s 2 0 2 3 Oil on canva s 102.3 × 141 cm

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St u d i o St u d y 2 0 2 3 Oil on canva s 30.5 × 35.5 cm

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St u d i o , E a r l y S u m m e r 2 0 2 3 Oil on canva s 30.5 × 35.8 cm

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St u d i o I A u t u m n 2 0 2 3 Oil on canva s 103 × 127.5 cm

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Lo n d o n St i l l L i fe 2 0 2 3 Oil on canva s 40.6 × 35.5 cm

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Early September 2023 Oil on canva s 41 × 35.5 cm

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A u g u st 2 0 2 3 Oil on canva s 40.8 × 30.5 cm

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La t e S e p t e m b e r 2 0 2 3 Oil on canva s 41 × 30.5 cm

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N o v e m b e r Ev e n i n g 2 0 2 2

S u s s e x Ev e n i n g I I 2 0 2 3

Watercolour on paper 19 . 2 × 1 7 . 9 c m

Watercolour on paper 19.8 × 15.1 cm

Ev e n i n g I 2 0 2 2

Ev e n i n g I I 2 0 2 2

Watercolour on paper 19 . 2 × 1 7 . 1 c m

Watercolour on paper 19.2 × 17.9 cm

B o a t Po o l , Ev e n i n g 2 0 2 3

La n d i n g St a g e 2 0 2 3

Watercolour on paper 17.8 × 14.5 cm

Watercolour on paper 19.1 × 14.5 cm

R i v e r Po o l 2 0 2 3

River Rock 2023

Watercolour on paper 17.9 × 15 cm

Watercolour on paper 19 × 14.6 cm

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Tu l i p St u d i e s 2 0 2 3

La st Tu l i p 2 0 2 3

Pencil on paper 20.9 × 14.7 cm

Pencil on paper 20.9 × 14.7 cm

La st o f t h e Tu l i p s I I 2 0 2 2

La st o f t h e Tu l i p s 2 0 2 2

Pen and ink on paper 20.9 × 14.7 cm

Pen and ink on paper 20.9 × 14.7 cm

E a r l y Tu l i p 2 0 2 3

A ft e r R a i n 2 0 2 3

Pen and ink on paper 20.9 × 14.7 cm

Pen and ink on paper 20.9 × 14.7 cm

Tu l i p G a r d e n 2 0 2 3

Tu l i p 2 0 2 3

Pen and ink on paper 20.9 × 14.7 cm

Pen and ink on paper 21 × 14.7 cm

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J a n u a r y Tu l i p s 2 0 2 3

La t e Tu l i p 2 0 2 3

Watercolour and collage on paper 19 . 6 × 14 . 5 c m

Watercolour and collage on paper 19 × 14 cm

S u s s e x Ev e n i n g 2 0 2 3

Midsummer Sussex 2023

Watercolour on paper 19 . 5 × 14 . 5 c m

Watercolour on paper 18.9 × 15 cm

Outcrop 2023

River Edge 2023

Watercolour on paper 18.6 × 14 cm

Watercolour on paper 19.2 × 14.2 cm

S u s s e x Ev e n i n g I I I 2 0 2 3

Midsummer Sussex II 2023

Watercolour on paper 18.9 × 14.3 cm

Watercolour on paper 17 × 13 cm

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J u l y Ev e n i n g 2 0 2 3

J u l y Ev e n i n g I I 2 0 2 3

Watercolour on paper 17.3 × 13.7 cm

Watercolour on paper 18.9 × 14.5 cm

A u g u st Ev e n i n g I I 2 0 2 3

A u g u st Ev e n i n g 2 0 2 3

Watercolour on paper 19.4 × 14.3 cm

Watercolour on paper 19.2 × 13.3 cm

R i v e r St o n e s 2 0 2 3

La st o f t h e La v e n d e r 2 0 2 3

Watercolour on paper 19.3 × 14 cm

Watercolour on paper 19 × 14.7 cm

Sussex Downs 2023

W Sussex 2023

Watercolour on paper 18.2 × 15 cm

Watercolour on paper 18.8 × 14.2 cm

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Fi g s S u s s e x I I 2 0 2 1 Pen and ink on paper 14.7 × 20.9 cm

Fi g s S u s s e x 2 0 2 1 Pen and ink on paper 14.7 × 20.8 cm

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Ev e n i n g I n t e r i o r 2 0 2 3 Pen and ink on paper 14.7 × 20.9 cm

Interior 2023 Pen and ink on paper 14.7 × 20.9 cm

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Wi n t e r S n o w d r o p 2 0 2 2

Fe b r u a r y Ev e n i n g 2 0 2 2

Pen and ink on paper 20.9 × 14.8 cm

Pen and ink on paper 21 × 14.7 cm

E a r l y Fe b r u a r y M o r n i n g 2 0 2 2

Sunday May Morning 2022

Pen and ink on paper 21 × 14.7 cm

Pen and ink on paper 20.9 × 14.7 cm

D e c e m b e r Ev e n i n g 2 0 2 1

S u n d a y St i l l L i fe 2 0 2 2

Pen and ink on paper 22 × 16.4 cm

Pen and ink on paper 20.9 × 14.7 cm

Gathered from Sussex 2023

Invitation 2023

Pen and ink on paper 21 × 14.7 cm

Pen and ink on paper 20.9 × 14.7 cm

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Interior Morning 2023 Oil on canva s 25.5 × 30.5 cm

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Interior Midday 2023 Oil on canva s 20.5 × 25.5 cm

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Inter val 2023 Watercolour on marble 30 × 13.8 cm

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S u n l i t Pa t h 2 0 2 3 Watercolour on marble 26.6 × 14 cm

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G a r d e n St i l l L i fe 2 0 2 3 Oil on canva s 20.5 × 20.4 cm

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E a st C o a st St i l l L i fe 2 0 2 3 Oil on canva s 20.3 × 20.4 cm

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Fe b r u a r y D a ffo d i l s 2 0 2 2 Oil on canva s 20.7 × 20.6 cm

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Fr o m t h e H i g h l a n d s I I 2 0 2 3 Oil on canva s 20.5 × 20.5 cm

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Sussex Hedgerow 2023 Oil on canva s 20.4 × 20.5 cm

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G a r d e n We st S u s s e x 2 0 2 3 Oil on canva s 20.5 × 20.5 cm

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Roses Sussex 2022

Early Rose 2022

Pen and ink on paper 20.8 × 14.7 cm

Pen and ink on paper 20.9 × 14.7 cm

Early April 2023

A Day in May 2023

Pen and ink on paper 20.9 × 14.7 cm

Pencil on paper 20.9 × 14.7 cm

M a r c h Ev e n i n g 2 0 2 3

A u g u st 2 0 2 2

Pen and ink on paper 20.9 × 14.8 cm

Pen and ink on paper 22 × 16.3 cm

Wi n t e r Ev e n i n g 2 0 2 3

Sussex Rosemar y 2023

Pen and ink on paper 20.9 × 14.7 cm

Pen and ink on paper 20.9 × 14.8 cm

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March Garden 2023

March Gathering 2023

Pen and ink on paper 20.9 × 14.8 cm

Pen and ink on paper 20.9 × 14.7 cm

March Garden II 2023

E a st e r F l o w e r s 2 0 2 3

Pen and ink on paper 20.9 × 14.7 cm

Pen and ink on paper 20.9 × 14.8 cm

Early April 2023

M a y Ev e n i n g 2 0 2 3

Pen and ink on paper 20.9 × 14.7 cm

Pen and ink on paper 20.9 × 14.7 cm

M a y Ev e n i n g I I 2 0 2 3

J u n e Ev e n i n g 2 0 2 3

Pen and ink on paper 20.9 × 14.7 cm

Pencil on paper 20.9 × 14.7 cm

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P l a t e o f Pe a r s 2 0 2 3

Sussex Interior 2023

Pen and ink on paper 20.9 × 14.7 cm

Pen and ink on paper 20.9 × 14.7 cm

M o s s Po t 2 0 2 3

Le a v i n g 2 0 2 3

Pen and ink on paper 20.9 × 14.7 cm

Pen and ink on paper 20.9 × 14.7 cm

Return 2023 Pen and ink on paper 21 × 14.8 cm

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St u d i o D r a w i n g I 2 0 2 3 Pen and ink on paper 57.5 × 72.2 cm

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St u d i o M o r n i n g 2 0 2 3 Pen and ink on paper 57.5 × 76.2 cm

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St u d i o E n t r a n c e 2 0 2 0 Oil on canva s 20.5 × 25.5 cm

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Reunited 2021 Oil on canva s 25.7 × 30.5 cm

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S a p l i n g s E a st C o a st 2 0 2 3 Oil on canva s 25.5 × 30.5 cm

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Early September Scotland 2023 Oil on canva s 25.5 × 30.5 cm

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St u d y fo r R e d St u d i o 2 0 2 3 Pen and ink on paper 57.5 × 76.2 cm

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Tr e e St u d y 2 0 2 1 Oil on card box 17.8 × 11.5 cm

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Wa l n u t Tr e e 2 0 2 3 Pen and ink on paper 22 × 16.4 cm

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St u d i o D r a w i n g I I 2 0 2 3 Pen and ink on paper 57.5 × 76.2 cm

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St u d i o D r a w i n g I I I 2 0 2 3 Pen and ink on paper 57.5 × 76.2 cm

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M o r n i n g St u d i o 2 0 2 3 Pen and ink on paper 57.5 × 76.2 cm

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St u d i o D r a w i n g I V 2 0 2 3 Pen and ink on paper 57.5 × 76.2 cm

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St u d i o D r a w i n g V 2 0 2 3 Pen and ink on paper 57.5 × 76.2 cm

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St u d i o D r a w i n g V I 2 0 2 3 Pen and ink on paper 57.5 × 76.2 cm

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Downlands Journey III 2021 Pen and ink on paper 14.5 × 20.7 cm

Downlands Journey II 2021 Pen and ink on paper 14.2 × 20 cm

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Downlands Journey I 2021 Pen and ink on paper 14.7 × 19.5 cm

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S a r a h A r m s t ro n g - J o n e s Biography 1964

Bo r n i n Lo nd o n

1982- 8 3

C a m b e r we l l S c ho o l o f A r t , Fo u n d a tio n

1984- 8 5

Mi d d l e s e x Po l y t e c hni c , P rin ted Tex tiles

1985- 8 8

Roy a l Ac ad e my S c ho o l s , U n d erg ra d u a te Dip lo m a

1988

Wi ns o r & N e w t o n P r i ze , Roy a l A c a d emy Sc h o o ls

1988- 9 1

Roy a l Ac ad e my S c ho o l s , Po s tg ra d u a te Dip lo m a

1990

C re s w i c k L a nd s c a pe P r ize , Firs t P rize a n d Silver M ed a l , Roy a l Ac ad e my S c ho o l s

1995

Fi r s t e x hi b i t i o n at t he Red fern G a ller y

1998

Roy a l Ac ad e my ‘ S um m er E x h ibitio n’, Th e M & G Pu rc h a s e P rize

2007

Jud ge at t he ‘ D i s c e r ni ng Eye’ ex h ibitio n

2021

C o m m i s s i o ne d by t he Fred eric k A sh to n Fo u n d a tio n to d es ig n a n ew p ro d uc t i o n o f A s ht o n’s p a s d e d eu x H am let an d O p h e lia c rea ted in 1 9 7 7 fo r Ma r go t Fo nt ey n a n d R u d o lf Nu reyev ( Th e Roy a l B a llet , Li nb ur y The at re , Roy a l O p era H o u s e , C oven t G a rd en)

Solo Exhibitions 1995

Re d fe r n G a l l e r y, Lo nd o n , ‘ Rec en t Pa in tin g s a n d D raw in g s’

1999

Re d fe r n G a l l e r y, Lo nd o n , ‘ Rec en t Wo rk s’

2003

Re d fe r n G a l l e r y, Lo nd o n , ‘ Rec en t Wo rk s’

2006- 0 7

Re d fe r n G a l l e r y, Lo nd o n , ‘ New Pa in tin g s a n d D raw in g s’

2010

Re d fe r n G a l l e r y, Lo nd o n , ‘ Rec en t Wo rk ’

2015

Re d fe r n G a l l e r y, Lo nd o n , ‘ New Pa in tin g s a n d D raw in g s’

2019

Re d fe r n G a l l e r y, Lo nd o n , ‘ Pa t hway s’

2023

Re d fe r n G a l l e r y, Lo nd o n , ‘G a t h erin g ’

Selected Group Exhibitions 1990

C ad o ga n C o nt e m p o r a r y, Lo n d o n (t wo - p ers o n s h ow wit h F r a nce s Ma nn)

1992

Bo hun G a l l e r y, H e nl ey- o n -Th a m es , ‘ Willia m Pa c ker : A C r i t i c ’s C ho i c e’ Ma l l G a l l e r i e s , Lo nd o n, ‘[C o llec to r ’s C h o ic e , C h ris to p h er L loyd ] , D i s c e r ni ng Eye E x hi b i t i on’

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1993

Re d fe r n G a ller y, Lo n d o n , ‘ Su m m er E x h ibitio n’ C hr i s t i e’s , Lo n d o n , ‘A d a m & C o . , Sp ec t a to r A r t Aw a rd E x h ibitio n’ Re d fe r n G a ller y, Lo n d o n , ‘ Win ter E x h ibitio n’

1994

C hr i s t i e’s , Lo n d o n , ‘ Peter G reen h a m M em o ria l E x h ibitio n’

1994-96

Roy a l Ac a d emy, Lo n d o n ‘ Su m m er E x h ibitio n’

1994-98

Re d fe r n G a ller y, Lo n d o n , ‘ Su m m er E x h ibitio n’

1995

C hr i s t i e’s , Lo n d o n , ‘ Na tio n a l Tru s t C en ten a r y E x h ibitio n’

1996

Ma l l G a l leries , Lo n d o n , ‘ Dis c ern in g Eye’

1997

Ma l l G a l leries , Lo n d o n , ‘ Dis c ern in g Eye’ Re d fe r n G a ller y, Lo n d o n , ‘ Still L ife a n d I n terio rs’

1998-99

Roy a l Ac a d emy, Lo n d o n , ‘ Su m m er E x h ibitio n’

2000

Ma l l G a l leries , Lo n d o n , ‘ Dis c ern in g Eye’ G a l e r i e Vieille d u Tem p le , Pa ris

2001

Roy a l Ac a d emy, Lo n d o n , ‘ Su m m er E x h ibitio n’

2002

Ar t Pa l m B ea c h (wit h Red fern G a ller y) Roy a l Ac a d emy, Lo n d o n , ‘ Su m m er E x h ibitio n’

2005-06

Roy a l Ac a d emy, Lo n d o n , ‘ Su m m er E x h ibitio n’

2008-10

Roy a l Ac a d emy, Lo n d o n , ‘ Su m m er E x h ibitio n’

2009

Re d fe r n G a ller y, Lo n d o n , ‘A u tu m n E x h ibitio n’

2010

Ma l l G a l leries , Lo n d o n , ‘ Su n d ay Tim es Wa terc o lo u r C o m p etitio n’

2011

Ma l l G a l leries , Lo n d o n , ‘ Dis c ern in g Eye’

2012

Roy a l Ac a d emy, Lo n d o n , ‘ Su m m er E x h ibitio n’ Ma l l G a l leries , Lo n d o n , ‘ Su n d ay Tim es Wa terc o lo u r C o m p etitio n’

2013

Roy a l Ac a d emy, Lo n d o n , ‘ Su m m er E x h ibitio n’ Ma l l G a l leries , Lo n d o n , ‘ Su n d ay Tim es Wa terc o lo u r C o m p etitio n’

2015

Be l gr ave G a ller y, St I ves ‘4 0 Yea rs o f Pa in tin g : C a m ber well Stu d en t s a nd Te ac h ers 1 9 4 5 to 1 9 8 5 ’

2016

Roy a l Ac a d emy, Lo n d o n , ‘ Su m m er E x h ibitio n’ C hr i s t i e’s , New Yo rk , ‘ D raw in g s f ro m t h e Roy a l D raw in g Sc h o o l’

2017

2 0 /2 0 G a ller y, L u d low, ‘ Sa ra h A rm s t ro n g - J o n es & A k iko H ira i’

2017-19

Roy a l Ac a d emy, Lo n d o n , ‘ Su m m er E x h ibitio n’

2021

Roy a l Ac a d emy, Lo n d o n , ‘ Su m m er E x h ibitio n’

2023

The Re d fern G a ller y, ‘C en ten a r y E x h ibitio n Pa r t 2 – Th e Red Stu d io’

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With grateful thanks to Jason Goodwin, Laura, Paul, Lucia and all at Redfern, Daniel, Sam, Arthur, Ellie, Lizzie, Sarah, Cath Catalogue © The Redfern Gallery, 2023 Works: © Sarah Armstrong-Jones Foreword: © Jason Goodwin Photography: Alex Fox Design: Graham Rees Design Print: The Five Castles Press Published to coincide with the exhibition

SARAH ARMSTRONG-JONES GATHERING

Open from 29 November 2023 Published by The Redfern Gallery, London 2023 ISBN: 978-0-948460-98-2 All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying recording or any other information storage or retrieval system without prior permission in writing from the gallery.

front cover (det ail)

St u d i o I A u t u m n 2 0 2 3 Oil on canva s 103 × 127.5 cm inside front cover

Downland 2023 Wa t e rc o l o u r o n p a p e r 1 9 . 1 × 1 5 c m opposite

M e a d o w Wa l l 2 0 2 0 Oil on canva s 36 × 30.8 cm

20 Cork Street London W1S 3H L +44 (0)20 7734 1732 info@redfern-gallery.com redfern-gallery.com

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