The works chosen to accompany the 'Story of the Guernsey Tom' exhibition are
mostly linked by the twin themes of plants and their cultivation. Very few
artworks in the museum collection relate directly to the horticulture industry;
Sidney Moody's 'Glasshouses with Steamer' and Barry Owen Jones' 'Packing Shed'
are probably the most directly relevant. We have therefore widened the scope to
include garden flowers and fruit, together with a group of figure studies
depicting that most important element, ordinary people at work.
The Artists and their Works
J.B.
The identity of J.B. is not known but the sketch of a Guernsey Market woman
with baskets of produce is dated 1836. The contents of one basket look
suspiciously like tomatoes though the date of the picture pre-dates by some two
decades the generally accepted date for commercial growing of the crop.
Exhibit list...
William John Caparne (1856-1940)
Caparne was born in Nottinghamshire and studied at the Slade School London
and in Paris. Appointed art master to Oundle School in 1880, he also began to
grow bulbs and seeds. After the death of his wife in 1894 he left Oundle and
eventually settled in Guernsey, setting up as a grower specialising in irises.
He was to receive many awards for his work with irises, and his watercolour
flower studies are an important historical record. Caparne also constantly
painted landscapes, mainly in watercolours, for his own pleasure, rarely parting
with any of his pictures.
The museum has a substantial holding of works and sketches by Caparne and we are
planning an exhibition of his work next year, to coincide with the Royal
Horticultural Society Centenary. Exhibit list...
Katie Gliddon (1883 - 196?)
Katie Edith Gliddon was born in 1883 in Twickenham. She studied at the Slade
School of Art between 1900-1904. Katie was politically active in the women's
suffrage movement and was arrested in 1912 for breaking the window of a Post
Office in Wimpole Street, subsequently serving a period from March to April in
Holloway. Katie became an art teacher. She retired to Worthing and lived into
her eighties, before dying some time in the 1960s, according to the catalogue
entry for her papers which are held at the Women's Library.
The works here range in date from 1934 to 1955, though they all exhibit a common
style and several were exhibited at the Royal Academy or the Royal Watercolour
Society. The set of six was presented to the Lukis and Island Museum by the
artist herself, though the exact reason for this has not been recorded. Only one
of the works still retains its original frame.
Exhibit list...
Barry Owen Jones (Born 1934)
Barry Owen Jones was born in 1934 and is well known as a popular local artist
and print maker, associated with the Coach House Gallery. The museum has a
number of his distinctive works and this wonderfully tongue-in-cheek depiction
of a tomato Packing Shed (in later life, as a general store) just had to find a
place in this exhibition. Exhibit list...
Mary Le Lievre (1813 - 1904)
Mary Le Lievre was one of two unmarried sisters of Peter Le Lievre, who kept
house for him after their mother died in 1856. Like her brother, Mary was an
accomplished artist and a number of her works came to the museum with the
Bremner Bequest (from Le Lievre's great niece) in the 1950s. A small portrait of
her brother is known to be her work but the other items attributed to her were
all contained in a Bremner Bequest folder labelled as 'Cousin Mary's' and most
are unsigned. They include these still life studies, some of which show
considerable detail, as well as worthy attempts to depict white flowers against
a white ground. Exhibit list...
Peter Le Lievre (1812 - 1878)
Peter Le Lievre lived in St Peter Port for all his life, at No. 17 Hauteville.
His parents were in trade and Peter attended Elizabeth College. There is no
record of any specific art education but his talent must have been evident from
an early age as some of his depictions of local scenes were reproduced as prints
when he was barely in his twenties. He succeeded his father as head of the
family business (by then a wine merchants) and was involved with the local
militia and government as a relatively prominent public figure. By contrast, his
artistic talents were exercised in a very private manner and none of his works
were seen publicly until after the death of his sister Mary in 1904.
The works by Peter Le Lievre are a series of 'jewels' in our art collection
'crown'. They include many depictions of local scenes, often with a nautical
theme and a wonderful series of figure studies depicting ordinary people - often
at work. We have selected a number of these figure studies for inclusion in this
exhibition. Exhibit list...
Frederick Corbin Lukis (1788 - 1871)
Frederick Corbin Lukis can be truly described as a polymath who had wide
interests across a broad range of academic disciplines and an even wider network
of related correspondents - including many well-known scientific authorities.
Particularly renowned as an archaeologist and antiquarian, he was also keenly
interested in geology and natural history; his family collections formed the
basis on which this museum was founded. As if this was not enough, he was also
an extremely competent 'limner', as one obituarist put it, and gave two bound
compilations of his work to his daughter Mary in 1863. Having remained in the
family for many years, these books were acquired by the museum in 1989 and
subsequently conserved - a process which allowed us to return the illustrations
to their original unbound state and make them available for display.
Lukis' depictions of apple varieties are particularly fine; some of the faint
pencil captions naming the varieties have yet to be deciphered.
Exhibit list...
Sidney Moody (1902 - 1979)
Sidney Moody was born in London and, in the early 1930s, worked as a scenic
artist for Gaumont British Film Studios in Shepherds Bush and Pinewood studios.
He had married a Channel Islander in 1927 and the couple came to live in
Guernsey around 1936. Working as a civilian clerk to the British Garrison, Moody
evacuated with the troops before the Occupation but returned to the island in
1945. He worked for the States Water Board until his retirement in 1963 and
ultimately left the island to live near his daughter's family in Norfolk.
The museum has two works by Moody, a view of Castle Cornet circa 1938, painted
from his Town flat shortly after he came to live in Guernsey and this view of
glasshouses presented to the museum recently, by his daughter. The pictures have
a naive quality and exhibit an air of stillness, being largely devoid of figures
or any other signs of movement. Exhibit list...
Maud Naftel (1856 - 1896)
Maud Naftel was the daughter of the well-known artist Paul Jacob Naftel and his
wife Isabel - also an artist. Like her father, Maud was born in Guernsey, though
they lived in London from 1870. She seems to have inherited artistic abilities
from her parents and exhibited steadily after their move to England, showing
works at the Society of Lady Artists, Royal Society of Painters in Watercolours,
and the Royal Academy, among others. Many of her works are floral compositions
like this one but she also painted some landscapes.
Exhibit list...
Study of an elderly woman wearing a bonnet
Peter Le Lievre
Pencil & watercolour (grey wash)
Bequest, 1967 (Bremner Bequest)
GMAG 263b
Two studies of a man with a garden rake
Peter Le Lievre
Watercolour
Bequest, 1967 (Bremner Bequest)
GMAG 267
Study of a man, probably a gardener, working with a spade
Peter Le Lievre
Watercolour & pencil
Bequest, 1967 (Bremner Bequest)
GMAG 277
Study of a standing farmer with a ladder
Peter Le Lievre
Watercolour
Bequest, 1967 (Bremner Bequest)
GMAG 280
Figure study; a gentleman standing with a gun tucked under his arm
Peter Le Lievre
Watercolour
Bequest, 1967 (Bremner Bequest)
GMAG 281
An elderly lady knitting
Peter Le Lievre
Watercolour
Bequest, 1967 (Bremner Bequest)
GMAG 283
Study of a seated farmer with gun and dog
Peter Le Lievre
Watercolour
Bequest, 1967 (Bremner Bequest)
GMAG 285
Study of a gardener with water can and brush
Peter Le Lievre
Watercolour
Bequest, 1967 (Bremner Bequest)
GMAG 287
Study of a seated man with spade
Peter Le Lievre
Watercolour
Bequest, 1967 (Bremner Bequest)
GMAG 289
Study of a woman in a red cloak with two pencil sketches
Peter Le Lievre
Watercolour & pencil
Bequest, 1967 (Bremner Bequest)
GMAG 291
Study of a seated farm labourer with cider bottle and mug
Peter Le Lievre
Watercolour
Bequest, 1967 (Bremner Bequest)
GMAG 292
Still life of a Nectarine plant with snail
Mary Le Lievre
Watercolour & ink
Bequest, 1967 (Bremner Bequest)
GMAG 1360
Study of a white Clematis flower. The variety has recently
been recognised as Clematis florida sieboliana,
introduced to England in 1836
Mary Le Lievre
Watercolour & ink
Bequest, 1967 (Bremner Bequest)
GMAG 1357
Study of a white Camelia bloom
Mary Le Lievre, 1840
Watercolour & ink
Bequest, 1967 (Bremner Bequest)
GMAG 1358
Study of white Cyclamen in pot
Mary Le Lievre
Watercolour
Bequest, 1967 (Bremner Bequest)
GMAG 1359
Still life; glass vase with Rununculacea.
The species is possibly Ranunculus asiaticus
Mary Le Lievre
Watercolour
Bequest, 1967 (Bremner Bequest)
GMAG 1356
Arrangement of spring flowers, including wallflower, Muscari,
Anemone blanda and white bluebell
Katie Gliddon, 1934
Watercolour
Gift
GMAG 5633a
Honesty
Katie Gliddon, 1949
Watercolour
Gift
GMAG 5633b
Arrangement of flowers and foliage, including Auriculas
Katie Gliddon, 1950
Watercolour
Gift
GMAG 5633c
Arrangement of summer flowers and foliage, including honeysuckle
Katie Gliddon, 1951
Watercolour
Gift
GMAG 5633d
Azaleas with Harts Tongue
Katie Gliddon, 1953
Watercolour
Gift
GMAG 5633e
Arrangement of flowers and foliage, including Phlox and roses
Katie Gliddon, 1954
Watercolour
Gift
GMAG 5633f
An Old Garden near the Church, St. Martin's (Mrs. Pinchney's garden)
W.J. Caparne (1856 - 1940)
Watercolour
Gift, 1980
GMAG 1980.137
Daffodil Pickers; the field overlooks Moulin Huet Bay - white pearl narcissi
W.J. Caparne (1856 - 1940)
Watercolour
Purchase, 1982
GMAG 1982.733
Guernsey Packing Shed
Barry Owen Jones
Etching (with aquatint)
Purchase, 1986
GMAG 1986.10
Garden flowers in a border at the edge of a path
Maud Naftel, 1886
Watercolour
Purchase, 1992
GMAG 1992.89
Five apple varieties
Frederick Corbin Lukis
Watercolour
Purchase, 1995
GMAG 1995.106B87
Five apple varieties
Frederick Corbin Lukis
Watercolour
Purchase, 1995
GMAG 1995.106B89
Solanum (egg plant or aubergine) with flowers and fruit
Frederick Corbin Lukis
Watercolour
Purchase, 1995
GMAG 1995.106B91
Guernsey Market Woman, 1836
There is some speculation about whether the items in the left hand
basket are tomatoes - if so, this is quite an early date for them
to have been on sale
J.B, 1836
Watercolour
Purchase, 2000
GMAG 2000.120
Glasshouses with Steamer
View of some vineries, showing a chimney and steam
steriliser, in the Vale or Baubigny area between 1948 and
1963 (note on reverse by Mrs Barbe)
Sidney Moody
Oil
Gift, 2000
GMAG 2000.121