This year’s exhibition displays a range of works by three generations of the Piper family.
A large selection of works will be for sale.
This year for the first time the gallery at Renishaw will show the work of three generations of the Piper family. The exhibition is organised by the well known West End dealership Messum’s, who represent the artists.
The Sitwell family knew many of the most prominent literary and artistic figures of the twentieth century. Osbert Sitwell in particular was active in commissioning and collecting Modern British works of art and the selection of John Piper’s paintings at Renishaw Hall includes some of his finest works.
The current exhibition, embracing three generations of Pipers, displays those characteristics that epitomise the work of the whole Piper family – a delight in experiment, a versatile use of materials and a playful lightness of touch, whatever the medium.
John Piper (1903-1992), father of Edward, father-in-law of Prudence and grandfather of Luke and Henry, experimented throughout his life, while developing the richly-textured freely-handled style of architectural and landscape painting that became his trademark.
Edward Piper’s (1938-1990) spontaneous and joyful paintings of girls are as celebratory as they are frankly sexual. Girls remained his primary subject matter, but in the 1980s he turned his attention to the countryside, bringing an intense scrutiny combined with an energetic yet delicate touch to landscapes around his home and the many places visited on his travels. All the works on view are drawn from the Edward Piper Studio Estate
Prue Piper has worked in ceramic for over twenty years, enjoying the way clay can make tangible the most fanciful of ideas. Prue experiments with all sorts of objects, both functional and purely decorative – jugs, bowls, plates candlesticks and a medley of exotic creatures. All of Prue’s pots breathe unrestrained delight. Designed to amuse and to cheer, she flirts with kitsch, challenging accepted canons of taste.
Luke Piper’s paintings have the unmistakable Piper look. However unconsciously, he has adopted his father’s working practice of painting in front of the motif at high speed. He lays in colour washes, over which he draws in inks, mismatching the contours to create an optical vibration, and he uses a similar mixture of materials as his father – watercolour, gouache, oil pastel and inks. The collection of works on view has been specially created for this exhibition and drawn from the landscape surrounding Renishaw.
Henry Piper’s spirit of lively enjoyment infuses all his sculptural work. He has made sculpture all his life. Much of his work is assembled from discarded bits and pieces, although he also carves in stone. He finds carving a useful complement to assemblage, as it makes him work from the outside in and not vice versa. Henry’s imaginary creatures have a vivid life and character of their own. Like Maurits Escher (an important influence), he enjoys allowing one thing to turn into another, giving an unexpected afterlife to bedsprings, bits of sewing machines and lawnmowers.
Register your interest on www.messums.com for advance information of works for sale.