The life and work of famous equestrian artist Lucy Kemp-Welch – whose illustrations featured in the original 1915 edition of Anna Sewell’s Black Beauty – will be celebrated in a six-month exhibition.
Lucy, who died in 1958 aged 89, was highly regarded, known for her paintings featuring equines and landscapes. Some of her best known work included the 1894 painting Gypsy Horse Drovers, and the 1896 Foam Horses, and her Black Beauty illustrations.
The exhibition, In Her Own Voice, opens on 1 April at the Russell-Cotes Art Gallery and Museum in Lucy’s home town Bournemouth, in collaboration with the National Horseracing Museum. It is the first major exhibition of Lucy’s work in more than 20 years, and will feature more than 60 pieces from Lucy’s lifetime including those from national and regional museums and private collections – some which have never been on display to the public.
“As an expert horsewoman, Kemp-Welch held an innate understanding and love for equine subjects, with a special affection for working horses and other agricultural animals. Born in Bournemouth, Kemp-Welch was greatly inspired by the Dorset coastline and the New Forest, in her painted landscapes and environments,” said a spokesman for the exhibition.
“In Her Own Voice, is an exhibition which gives power to the painted visual language and spirit of Lucy Kemp-Welch through a major retrospective of her works.”
The exhibition will coincide with the launch of the biography In Her Own Voice, by art historian and author David Boyd Haycock. The book, which is due to be published next year, will focus on key works and moments in Lucy’s career, and highlight the influence of Hubert von Keromer’s teachings on her techniques.
“We are delighted to be able to host a major exhibition of Lucy Kemp-Welch’s work, in her home town, and we know that our founder, Merton Russell-Cotes, was a keen admirer of the artist and an advocate for female artists. He owned two of her works and in his autobiography, described how she ‘sprang up in a phenomenal way … making her mark instantly’,” said Sarah Newman, Russell-Cotes manager.
“The museum has subsequently acquired five more of her works, and we have several letters written between Kemp-Welch and the museum’s curators in our archive. Combining our collection with other significant Kemp-Welch paintings promises to provide a visually stimulating and insightful exhibition which we hope will captivate audiences as they journey through her life and paintings.”
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