Copyright © 2008-2011 Hargrave Fine Art, Geddington, Northants
Nina Carroll
Nina Carroll (1932-1990) was a designer of murals, an illustrator of children’s books
and a watercolour artist. She studied at Cheltenham School of Art and at the Ruskin
School, Oxford. She lived in Kettering and later in Oxford. Her husband, John Steane,
was headmaster of Kettering Grammar School in 1964 to 1976. Both Nina and her husband
were founder members of the Kettering Civic Society, and John became their first
Secretary. She exhibited at the Royal Academy, the Royal Society of Watercolour Painters,
the Society of Women Artists and the New England Art Club. Her works are in the collection
of the Guildhall Museum, Northampton and the Alfred East Art Gallery in Kettering,
amongst others.
Sir Henry Dryden
Sir Henry Edward Leigh Dryden, Bart. (1818-1899) was the eldest son of the Rev. Sir
Henry Dryden of Canons Ashby, Northamptonshire. He was educated at Shrewsbury School
under the celebrated Headmaster, Dr Samuel Butler. On the death of his father in
1837, he became the owner of Canons Ashby. He was an enthusiastic archaeologist and
antiquary and is particularly remembered for his skill and accuracy in producing
thousands of architectural and archaeological drawings. The Sir Henry Dryden collection
in Northamptonshire Central Library includes thousands of Dryden’s drawings, plans
and notes that were presented to the town of Northampton after his death in 1899
by his only daughter, Miss Alice Dryden. Dryden's work includes studies of buildings
and historic sites and monuments throughout Britain and Europe, occasionally providing
the only record of structures that have not survived.
Old Cottages in Alderminster - 1
Old Cottages in Alderminster - 2
The American Embassy, London
Greenhouses at
64 Banbury Road, Oxford
Frank B. Jowett
Frank B. Jowett (1879-1943) was born in Kettering, Northamptonshire, the son of J.C.
Jowett, boot manufacturer of Regent Works. He became the Managing Director of the
Carrington Shoe Company and a Chairman of the Rotary International Art Group. For
several years he was Chairman of the Kettering and District Art Society. He exhibited
at the Royal Academy, the Royal Society of British Artists, the Royal Society of
Watercolour Painters and the Royal Institute of Painters of Watercolours. He was
also a talented etcher. The Alfred East Art Gallery in Kettering has nine works by
him in its permanent collection. In 1915 he was recorded as living at 9 Tennyson
Road, Kettering.
Sir Alfred East
Sir Alfred East (1844-1913) is one of the most significant figures in English landscape
painting in the decades before the First World War. His landscapes caught the mood
of times in which there was a growing concern at the rapidity of social change and
its impact upon the countryside. He was born in Kettering, Northamptonshire, and
worked in his brother’s boot and shoe factory as a ‘clicker’ before becoming a sales
representative for the company in Glasgow. There he attended evening classes at the
Glasgow School of Art. In his late thirties he decided to become a professional artist
and in 1882 went to study at the Académie Julian in Paris, where he was much influenced
by the Barbizon School of landscape artists. Around 1884 he and his family moved
from Glasgow to North London where they lived until his death. In 1888 he was commissioned
to spend six months in Japan by the Fine Art Society. He arrived in Nagasaki in March
1889 and became the first English artist to make Japan the field of an extensive
and detailed study in paint. In March 1890, 104 of his paintings of Japanese landscapes
and people were exhibited at the Fine Art Society in London. East continued to travel
widely and painted regularly in France, Italy, Spain and North Africa. He was elected
an Associate of the Royal Academy in 1899, having been a regular exhibitor since
1883. In 1906 he was elected President of the Royal Society of British Artists, a
position he held until his death. In 1910 he received a knighthood, and a banquet
was held in his honour in his native town of Kettering. The Alfred East Gallery,
designed by J. A. Gotch, was opened in Kettering on 31 July 1913 by Lord Spencer.
East died two months later, but not before he had been elected to full membership
of the Royal Academy. A national newspaper commented that it was a ‘fitting end to
a brilliant career’.
The Last Days of the Tuileries Palace, Paris
The Coastal Railway near Dawlish Warren, South Devon
Thomas Cooper Gotch
Thomas Cooper Gotch RBA, RI (1854-1931) was born in Kettering, Northamptonshire.
He was a painter of portraits, landscape and allegorical and realistic genre. He
studied at Heatherley’s Art School (1876), the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Antwerp (1877),
the Slade School (1878), and with Jean Paul Laurens in Paris (1880). He exhibited
at the Royal Academy in 1880-1931, showing 70 paintings in total. He was elected
to the Royal Society of British Artists in 1885 and the Royal Institute of Painters
in Watercolour in 1912. He was a founder member of the New English Art Club (1886)
and served as President of the Royal British Colonial Society of Artists in 1913-28.
He moved to Cornwall in 1887 and is considered one of the founding members of the
Newlyn School of artists along with Stanhope Forbes and Walter Langley.
Ralph Hartley
Ralph Hartley (1926-1988) was a Kettering artist who flourished in the 1960s. He
was awarded a Silver Medal at the Paris Salon of 1966. He also exhibited at the Royal
Academy, New English Art Club, Royal Society of British Artists and Industrial Painters
Group. His work is included in the permanent collection of Northampton Art Gallery
and the Alfred East Art Gallery in Kettering.
In 1967 Sir David Scott of Boughton House wrote of Mr Hartley’s work: ‘It is the
work of an Englishman and a countryman, and a Midlander at that. His trees are unmistak-ably
those of the Midland countryside – ash, sycamore, oak, willow, elm. In his landscapes
you can hear the birds sing, the leaves and branches rustle, you can see the cloud
shadows slide across the undulating grass and ploughlands of Northamptonshire… Above
all, his skies are English, matching the season of the year, whether grey and watery
or blue and cloud-flecked… There is a vigour and obvious delight in the act of painting
which gives his work a special vitality: his pictures are alive, and any possessor
of them will find that they wear well, for they have hidden reserves.’
G. H. B. Holland
George Herbert Buckingham Holland (1901-1987) was born in Northampton. He was educated
at Northampton Grammar School and trained as an artist at Northampton School of Art
and Leicester College of Art (1918-23). In 1923 he opened a studio at Whitworth Chambers,
George Row, Northampton. He lived in London for a while before returning in 1939
to Northampton, where he resided for the rest of his life.
He was primarily a portrait painter (three of his works are in the collection of
the National Portrait Gallery) but he also painted landscapes and still life. A retrospective
exhibition of his work was held in 1997 at the Central Museum and Art Gallery, Northampton,
to mark the 10th anniversary of his death.
Thurston Laidlaw Shoosmith
Thurston Laidlaw Shoosmith (1865-1933) was born in Northampton. He was educated at
Northampton Grammar School before joining the firm of solicitors which his father
had established in the town (still practising as Shoosmiths). He became a partner
in the firm in 1897. While he was not a professional artist – in the sense that he
did not need to sell his paintings to make a living – he was nonetheless a leading
figure in the artistic life of Northampton. He became the first President of the
Town and Country Art Society. He retired from legal practice in 1925 to devote more
time to painting.
La Belle Dame Sans Merci (Keats)
NP Timber Company, Kettering
Walter Bonner Gash
Walter Bonner Gash (1869-1928) was a painter of portraits, figures and landscapes.
He was born in Lincoln and studied at Lincoln School of Art and Antwerp Academy.
He became Assistant Art Master at Lincoln School of Art and for about seven years
the Art Master at the Wellingborough Technical School. In 1907 he was appointed Art
Master at Kettering Grammar School in Northamptonshire. He had a studio at the Victoria
Hall, Kettering. He was also well known in Nottingham, where he resided at one time
and acted as a judge on the Hanging Committee of the Castle Art Gallery. He exhibited
at the Royal Academy (8) from 1896 including Studying the New Woman and Selling Flowers;
at the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool (2); and at Nottingham Museum and Art Gallery
(39). The Alfred East Art Gallery in Kettering has ten pictures by him in its permanent
collection.
The Old Watermill, Mevagissey, Cornwall
Hubert Coop
Hubert Coop (1872-1953) was born in Olney, Buckinghamshire, the son of the Revd Thomas
Coop. He was educated at Wolverhampton and Birmingham, and after a short period in
business, went to study at the Lincoln School of Art where he obtained a First Class
Degree in Design. He moved to North Wales to take up painting as a profession, concentrating
on painting river estuary and coastal scenes from nature. By 1913 he had moved to
Lowestoft, Suffolk, where he continued to paint coastal scenes and windmills around
Southwold and up the coast into the Norfolk Broads. He then resided in St Ives, Huntingdonshire,
for a short period before taking up residence in Kettering, Northamptonshire. His
1918 entry to the Royal Academy has an address in Newland Street, Kettering. In the
late 1920s he moved to Bideford, Devon, where he remained for the rest of his life.
The Burton Art Gallery & Museum in Bideford has a selection of his watercolours and
oil paintings on permanent display. His paintings can often be seen at the Alfred
East Art Gallery in Kettering.
Coop was elected a member of the Royal Society of British Artists in London in 1895,
aged 22, and subsequently exhibited 24 works there. He also exhibited at the Royal
Academy (20); the Royal Society of Artists, Birmingham (20); and the Walker Art Gallery,
Liverpool (39).
Fred Jay Girling
Fred Jay Girling (1900-1982), a naval architect, was born in Leicestershire and lived
in Wellingborough and Kettering, Northamptonshire. Following the death of his father
at Gallipoli during the First World War, the family moved to Belfast where Fred trained
in naval architecture with Harland & Wolff. In 1929 he moved to Newcastle-upon-Tyne
to work as a naval architect for the government. He was later posted in Leith as
Chief Ship Surveyor for the East Coast of Scotland. He retired in 1965 and was awarded
an OBE. In his later years he returned to live in Northamptonshire, in Mears Ashby.
He was a self-taught artist and painted mostly watercolours of ships and churches.
The Nave,
Chester Cathedral
The Pillar, Charney Bassett, Oxfordshire
Darrynane, County Kerry, Ireland
The Inny River, County Kerry, Ireland
Near the Priory, Lewes, East Sussex
Wicksteed Park, Kettering, Northamptonshire
John Trivett Nettleship
John Trivett Nettleship (1841-1902) was born in Kettering, Northamptonshire, the
second son of Henry John Nettleship, a solicitor in the local firm of Lamb and Stringer.
HeJohn was educated at Durham school, and after devoting a brief period of his life
to the Law, studied painting at Heatherley’s and at the Slade School in London. According
to Sir Alfred East, when Nettleship ‘seriously began art work it was soon apparent
that his most marked talent was as a delineator of animals, especially savage wild
animals, and he soon began, and continued for many years, to work at the Zoological
Gardens [London Zoo], where he made the studies for the greater number of his paintings.’
He became widely known as a painter of animals and exhibited regularly at the Royal
Academy, Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours, the Grosvenor Gallery and the
New Gallery. He married the daughter of James Hinton, aural surgeon, in 1876. Their
eldest daughter Ida married the painter Augustus John. Nettleship died in 1902, at
his residence in Wigmore Street, London, aged 61.
An American Black Bear
(Ursus americanus)
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Peter Newcombe
Peter Newcombe (1943- ) was born at Blisworth in Northamptonshire. He studied illustration
and etching at Northampton School of Art, where he won a travelling scholarship.
His work first came to public attention in 1968 with a set of twelve large drawings
illustrating ‘The Shepherds Calendar’ by John Clare, which were featured on BBC television.
In 1970 he was awarded a major art grant from the Elizabeth T. Greenshield Foundation
in Canada. At this time he began exhibiting widely in London including at the Royal
Academy, the Royal Society of British Artists, and the Royal Institute of Painters
in Watercolour. In 1979 he designed a set of flower stamps for the Post Office.
The subject matter of Peter Newcombe’s paintings is gathered almost entirely from
the area of Northamptonshire in which he lives. His paintings are intense studies
of landscape and flora in all seasons, and he has a particular interest in old buildings
and wild flowers.
View from the Bungalow, Rivington, Lancashire
Study of roses in a glass vase
The Palm House,
Royal Botanic Gardens Kew
Bright Morning, Blisworth,
Northamptonshire
Matthew H. Holding
Matthew Henry Holding ARIBA (1847-1910) was a Northampton architect. He was articled
to Charles Buckeridge, and by 1878 had set up his own architectural practice at 1
Market Square, Northampton. He was elected an Associate of the Royal Institute of
British Architects on 23 May 1881. By 1891 he had moved his practice to the Corn
Exchange in Northampton. He was responsible for the west bays added to the Guildhall
in Northampton in 1889-92, in a 13th-century Gothic style matching that of E.W. Godwin’s
east bays of 1861-4. He designed several new churches in Northampton, including:
St Mary, Towcester Road, Far Cotton (1884-5); St Paul’s, Semilong Road (1887-91);
St Matthew, Kettering Road (1891-4); Christ Church, Wellingborough Road (1903-6);
and Holy Trinity, Balmoral Road (1909). He was involved in restoration and rebuilding
works at a number of medieval churches in Northamptonshire, including St Mary the
Virgin, Gayton (1883); St John the Baptist, Hellidon (1897); and All Saints, Harpole
(1905).
West Elevation & East Elevation
Church of St Nicholas, Marston Trussell, Northamptonshire
Thomas Osborne-Robinson
Thomas Osborne-Robinson OBE (1904-1976) was a scenic designer at the Royal Theatre,
Northampton. He trained at Northampton School of Art alongside G.H.B. Holland. He
got the job of scenic designer at the Royal Theatre in the 1920s through the auspices
of W.J. Bassett-Lowke, whose house at 78 Derngate in Northampton was designed by
Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Bassett-Lowke was one of the inaugural members of the
Repertory Theatre board. After his death, his widow gave Osborne-Robinson one of
the Mackintosh clocks from No. 78. Osborne-Robinson lived on Derngate, a few doors
up from No. 78, and was instrumental in getting it listed in 1965. He was a moving
force in building up the Italian collection at the Central Museum in Northampton,
and recorded Northampton’s buildings and history in his paintings. He was awarded
an OBE for his services to theatre.
Edward Stamp
Edward Stamp RI (1939- ) is a landscape artist. Born in London, he was evacuated
during the Second World War to a small farm in Dunton, Buckinghamshire, which was
to have a significant impact on his later work as a landscape painter. He studied
at Northampton School of Art, gaining the National Diploma of Design in 1961. He
worked as a freelance book illustrator and as an illustrator with Her Majesty’s Stationery
Office, but the lure of the countryside was too great and he left London to work
on the land. Whilst employed as a tractor driver, he painted and sketched the land
he worked, combining the life of farming with that of an artist until 1970. The success
of his first London exhibition in 1973 led to full-time occupation as an artist,
and his work has been shown regularly at the Royal Academy since 1975. In 1980 he
was awarded the Bronze Medal for the most outstanding watercolour by a non-member
in the annual exhibition of the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolour, and he
was subsequently elected a member in the same year. In 1981 his wood engravings merited
his election as a member of the Royal Institute of Painter Etchers and Engravers.
A full set of 22 engravings, illustrating John Clare’s Summer Poems, were acquired
by the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.
Tinkers, County Wicklow, Ireland
March near Lillingstone Lovell, Buckinghamshire
Grafton Regis, Northamptonshire
Road to Gayton, Northamptonshire
St Mary’s Church, Rushden, Northamptonshire
