25 years | 25 objects | 25 artists

Alma Ramsey-Hosking (1907-1993), Two Watchers on a Staircase, c.1960s

wo Watchers on a Staircase, c.1960s   Cement fondu and metal   Given by Sarah Hosking, 2019   Alma Ramsey-Hosking studied at the Royal College of Art in London during the 1920s and later moved to Warwickshire where she and her husband, the artist Richard ‘Dick’ Hosking, contributed to the creative boom that blossomed in the county during the post-war years.  In this sculpture Ramsey-Hosking conveys a sense of movement through the dynamic poses of the figures and the partial spiral staircase. The attenuated, semi-abstracted figures of this work are typical of the style of many artists working in the period, as is Ramsey-Hosking’s choice of material, cement fondu.

David Teniers The Younger (1610-1690), The Temptation of St Anthony, c.1640-1660

The Temptation of St Anthony, c.1640-1660   Oil on panel   Bequeathed by Mr. George Watson through the Art Fund, 2015   This painting was bequeathed, along with other Dutch Golden Age works, by George Watson (1927-2013) who was a Professor of English at Cambridge University. The story of the temptation of St Anthony has its roots in the medieval period. It tells of how the hermit St Anthony withstood demonic apparitions and temptations during his period of religious contemplation in the Egyptian desert.  Whilst the primary purpose of the painting was to offer religious inspiration, the grotesque demons and unusual imagery also allowed viewers to contemplate these sins from a safe distance. The Temptation of St Anthony was an incredibly popular subject and one which the artist repeated many times.

Lucy Kemp Welch, Old Grey Mare with her Foal

Old Grey Mare with her Foal, date unknown   Oil on card   Purchased, 2009   Kemp-Welch is known for her paintings of animals, especially horses. As an illustrator she brought to life Anna Sewell’s Black Beauty – the Autobiography of a Horse and her skill and commitment to her subject resulted in her being elected the first president of the Society of Animal Painters in 1914. This small and quiet study of a horse and her foal can be viewed in contrast to Winter’s White Silence, a significant work by Kemp-Welch which is on display in Leamington Spa Art Gallery & Museum’s permanent collection.

Dorothy Annan (1900-1983), Sketch for Leamington Life, c. 1940

Sketch for Leamingtonian Life, c. 1940   Gouache on hardboard    Given by Sebastian Tennant, 2021   Leamington Spa was one of the main bases for camouflage research during the Second World War and during the 1990s Leamington Spa Art Gallery & Museum began acquiring items relating to the work of camouflage staff.   During the Second World War, communal feeding stations, renamed British Restaurants by Winston Churchill, were set up throughout Britain to provide unrationed meals to those who had been bombed out, lost their ration books or been relocated for war work. In 1942, a group of artists, including Annan, painted a series of murals for Leamington’s British Restaurant to encourage a positive and uplifting atmosphere for customers. Annan’s sketch shows her design for the mural depicting a compressed townscape including Jephson Gardens and Royal Pump Rooms.

Terry Frost, Untitled, 2003

Untitled, 2003     Painted steel   Given by the Friends of Leamington Spa Art Gallery & Museum (FLAG), 2019   When Terry Frost died, he was working on a commission for a large-scale sculpture for the new University Hospital of Coventry & Warwickshire, due to open in 2006. The financial implications were complicated and unfortunately this commission did not happen. The rights to the maquette were subsequently acquired by the Estate of Terry Frost and the Beaux Arts Gallery, which produced a limited number of small models. The design is a manifestation of the shapes visible in Frost’s two-dimensional work. One can only imagine how impressive a nine-foot version of this sculpture would have looked at the entrance to the hospital.