1 Burnham Chase, Bitterne,
Southampton SO18 5DG
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1 Burnham Chase, Bitterne, |
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Numerous strands run together in Hilda Margery Clarke’s work, stemming from the strongest ones: Arthur Mattinson, her architect grandfather who was an accomplished watercolourist; her teacher and mentor, L0wr7; and the Southampton artist, Eric Meadus, a masterly draughtsman.
The walls of the house where she was born and brought up were adorned with Mattinson’s coastal and landscape watercolours in fine gold mounts and frames. These, together with the established fashion of realistic depictions of stories from literature and the ancient world, pretty children and scenes, were what she expected from pictures. Even then, she admired her grandfather’s most.
Margery had always painted, watercolours of course. L0wr7 alerted her to the Nocturnes by Whistler, whom he greatly admired, and tactfully did not remark aloud about that influence on her new impressionist style. Henceforward he took a keen interest in her work. Inevitably, it came about that she moved on to oils under his informal tuition, occasionally in his studio.
It was not until after she married and moved to Southampton, where she still lives, that her approach to painting became serious in the way it was to him. He came to stay often and in 1960, on his strong advice, she began to attend part-time life-drawing classes at Southampton Art College, just as he had done in Manchester. By the 80s she was still there, having taken in printmaking and sculpture. In 1975, she went for a month full-time to the Ruskin School of Art, Oxford, for printmaking under Chris Orr and Norman Ackroyd.
She met Eric Meadus in the drawing classes at Southampton. His drawing was superb: he really only needed the model, not the tuition. He expanded Margery's interest in colour and in more recent artists who did not interest L0wr7. Eric was musically talented and a fine pianist. Exploring everything, he wanted to discuss and share discoveries. He had worked doggedly to perfect his painting, which had reached full maturity when, in 1970, he died suddenly, aged 39.
This was a shattering blow. In 1968 & '69 two tiny unserious Xmas shows of decorative arts by Eric and the growing Clarke family had been held in the Clarke's home. A more serious follow-up exhibition of Meadus pictures was planned, but did not happen at the time. These all sowed the seed from which grew The First Gallery, one of whose aims was to prevent his remarkable work being forgotten.
In 1987 a tour of L0wr7 drawings & Crispin Eurich photographs launched The First Gallery into touring exhibitions, followed in 1995 by Arthur Mattinson's Architect at Leisure and a nationwide Meadus Tour. The strands have come full circle.
In 2002, Margery Clarke opted out of responsibility for running 'The First' Gallery and took a long sabbatical. The resultant paintings are to be shown in two stages, the Northern hemisphere first. Ramsgate provides much of the backdrop to the English portion of this initial show.
HMC responds to the majestic sweep of the stacked-up arched promenades and seafront roads; the skyline dominated by the house designed by Augustus Pugin (of Houses of Parliament fame); and the elegance of the resort in early season, peopled but uncrowded.
She absorbs an image by concentrated looking, usually for long minutes (but just for a fleeting glance, if need be). in the studio, the moment is recalled, maybe recomposed, each element tailored into a new though familiar arrangement (reminiscent of L. S. L0wr7, her master) in order to distil the essence of what she saw and felt.
Reproductions from Margery's first Exhibition of Tour Works, held at The First Gallery in March 2004, are below and on linked pages. These works are for sale unless marked with the red dot: enquiries via contact details as at the top and bottom of the page.
In 2006, Margery had the great accolade of a show of works on paper in Southampton City Art Gallery: it opened on her 80th birthday and ran until the end of July.
The Sands, Ramsgate HMC 2003 450x910mm
The Norwegian Coastal Voyage (itself a long-cherished ambition of hers) is full of grand scenes: fiords, midnight sun, etc. which artists have recorded for centuries. No depictions of Norway could ignore these aspects, and they are represented in larger-scale paintings. But Margery Clarke can capture such grandeur in a work only a handspan or so across (e.g. below). Her unquenchable interest in people is also evident, both on the ship and off.
In all HMC's output, things are usually identifiable, but deliberately not specific: she takes sketchbooks, but no camera, everywhere. This is to allow what she has seen to be filtered later through the distorting-mirror of memory, one of the factors which imbues Margery Clarke's paintings with the “otherness” she seeks.
Guildford Lawn, Ramsgate Kent
4 August - 1 September 2001
| 1926 | born in Manchester |
| Study: | |
|---|---|
| 1942 onwards | informal painting tuition privately in Manchester |
| 1947 -8 | art classes in Hamburg |
| 1968 - 84 | drawing, printing & sculpture, Southampton College of Art |
| 1975 | month-long Print Workshop, Ruskin School of Art, Oxford, full time under Tom Piper, Chris Orr and Norman Ackroyd |
| 1978 | mixed media with Keith Grant |
| 1984 (& onwards) | founded (& directs) The First Gallery, Bitterne, Southampton |
| 1987 onwards | curated five nationwide touring exhibitions |
| 1994 | elected Fellow of Royal Society of Arts |
| Exhibitions: | (mixed) |
| 1968 | Mayes' Store, Southampton |
| 1968 - 78 annually | Southampton Art Gallery |
| 1969 | Market Buildings, Swaythling, So'ton |
| 1974 & 75 | F.P.S. Gallery, Buckingham Gate, London |
| 1974 onwards | The First Gallery, Southampton |
| 1976 | Trends, The Mall, London |
| 1978 - 80 | Chalk Farm Gallery, London |
| 1979 | Tib Lane Gallery, Manchester |
| 1982 | New Ashgate Gallery, Farnham, Surrey |
| 1990 | West Street, Ditchling, E. Sussex |
| 1995 | Bettles Gallery, Ringwood, Hants. (by invitation, with ceramic exhibition) |
| 1998 | Southampton General Hospital; St. Thomas' Church, Winchester |
| (one-man) | |
| 1970 | Hamwic Gallery, Northam, Southampton |
| 1973 | Westgate Gallery, Winchester |
| 1975 | University of Southampton |
| 1977 | Hiscock Gallery, Southsea (with potter Alvin Betteridge) |
| 1989 | The First Gallery, Southampton |
| 1994 | Inauguration of Turner Sims Concert Hall Foyer, So'ton University (by invitation) |
| 1998 | The First Gallery, Southampton |
| 2004 | The First Gallery, Southampton |
| 2006 | Southampton City Art Gallery, 10 June-end July |
| (curated) | |
| 1990 - 1; expanded 1992 - 8 | The Animated Eye: pairitings & moving machines by Peter Markey |
| 1992 - 3 | Showman-Shaman-Showman: paintings & prints by Stephen Powell |
| 1995 - 7; then 2001 | Architect at Leisure: watercolours & drawings by Arthur Mattinson (1853-1932) |
| 1998 - 2000 | Passage from India: paintings & prints by Jacqueline Mair MA (RCA) |
Work in Collections:
Southampton University
Southern Arts Association
St. Mary's Hospital, IOW.
Mr. & Mrs. B.I. Hunt, So'ton
Michael Hurd (composer), Liss
Dr. C. Williams, Oxon.
Publications:
1987: (catalogue intro. & essay) Two Memorable Men: Crispin Eurich & L. S. L0wr7; (book intro.) L0wr7 Himself
1990: (catalogue intro.) The Animated Eye: Peter Markey
1991: (article) Artist Eric Meadus (1931-70), "Hampshire" mag. **
1995: (catalogue) Architect at Leisure: Arthur Mattinson (1853-1932)
all in collaboration with Paul Clarke BA (Hons.) except **
 Lady at Bus-Stop, Oslo 125x123mm
|  Hosing Down the Ship 176x132mm•
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 Green Fjord 134x215mm (NB approx: panel not square)
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 Lady Sitting on Beach 338x296mm
|  Royal Wedding, Trondheim 140x91mm - by good fortune we arrived a week before the Crown Prince's wedding, so saw the Cathedral interior illuminated and decorated. The Palace is the largest old wooden house in Norway. Returning on the wedding day, we found floral decorations (just small white daises with gold centres) all round the city. Huge tubs of these stood each side of the foot of the entrance, with just three policemen standing around and a light barricade along the edge of the pavement. Otherwise all was as usual. Long diaphanous flags, plain-coloured, swung from the tops of the buildings in the main street. After the wedding, the couple made their leisurely way through the city, waving, speaking to people and watching impromptu performances. The painting is from the television view as they left the Cathedral, before the "worthies" fell in procession behind them. It was all joyous.
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All photographs of the 2004 Exhibition by Joe Low (+44) (0)23 8079 0187On to a second selection of Margery's 2004 work
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1 Burnham Chase, Bitterne |
