Peter Newcombe
Peter Newcombe (1943- ) was born in Blisworth, 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.
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Ravenstone Mill, Buckinghamshire
An oil on panel measuring 23¼” x 35½”. Signed Peter Newcombe and dated 2003. Provenance: sometime with Savage Fine Art, Northampton (label verso).
Study for Cliff Hill Farm Barn, Blisworth, Northamptonshire
A watercolour measuring 8½” x 11¾”. Signed Peter Newcombe and dated 1990. Provenance: exhibited in one-man show ‘No Need of Words’ at Savage Fine Art in September 1991 as no. 47 (label verso).
Peter Newcombe described the scene thus in the text accompanying the 1991 exhibition:
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‘As you enter the village of Blisworth on the road from Northampton, the first building on your left that you will see is a large 17th-century barn. It is the largest and most-important barn in the village. The magnificent end gable bears a date stone: GB 1633.
All of my life it has been known as Bonsor’s barn, with the farmer George Bonsor bearing the same initials as the 17th-century builder.
Like many houses of this date in the village, it is constructed of banded ironstone and limestone. It has only one ‘proper’ end gable, which faces the road, and of course the weather, for it was originally thatched. The large central threshing doors were large enough to drive a wagon into the barn, unload, and out the other side.’
Cottage near Teeton, Northamptonshire
A watercolour measuring 8½” x 7¾”. Signed Peter Newcombe and dated 1989. Inscribed verso: ‘Cottage nr. Teeton’.
Dark Lane, Grimscote, Northamptonshire
A watercolour measuring 9” x 8”. Signed Peter Newcombe and dated 1986. Inscribed verso in pen: ‘Dark Lane. Grimscote’.