We are pleased to share news of a newly published book on the London-born artist David Gommon (1913-1987), with a main text by Philip Vann and an illuminating essay by Karen Taylor (Curator, Towner Eastbourne).
Philip Vann’s writing has long been closely connected with the 108 Fine Art Gallery and with the work of Joash Woodrow. He is the author of the essay, ‘Withdrawal into Reality: the life and art of Joash Woodrow’ in the 2007 book ‘Joash Woodrow. Landscapes’ (with an essay also by Jackie Wullschlager; published by Leeds Metropolitan University in association with 108 Fine Art and the Woodrow family).
In his review in ‘The Art Book’ (Feb 2009), Julian Freeman wrote, ‘It would be easy enough to shoehorn Woodrow into a mould and to transform him into a local figure, as Lowry was, but this – on the strength of Vann and Wullschlager’s open-hearted study – would be to betray him, his intensity, determination and unceasing activity… The real magnetism of the book lies in the power of the painted landscapes reproduced, drawn from Woodrow’s career from the 1950s (until) the decade before his death… As a testimony intended to represent at least a single element of Woodrow’s output, and perhaps, after that, much more, this book should be received with respect by any serious student of painting. I envy its author and publishers, all of whom deserve congratulations for their efforts to support Woodrow’s posthumous reputation, and to bring it before a wider audience.’
A new book has recently been published on the visionary London-born artist David Gommon (1913-1987) – with a main text by Philip Vann and an illuminating essay by Karen Taylor (Curator Towner Eastbourne). Gommon’s art was rooted in seminal experiences he had as a young art student (on Chesil Beach in Dorset) around 1930, and his work thereon is infused by a mystical sense of the wholeness of wider nature. His early paintings (1930s) often feature horses as archetypes of primordial freedom; his postwar pictures focus more on birds as vivid symbols of the spontaneous openness of nature. Gommon’s art is infused by his love and deep knowledge of poetry and music; in the 1930s he was a close friend of the poet/artist David Jones; he also was a friend of the Orkney-born poet Edwin Muir; and late in his life he befriended the great Northumbrian Modernist poet, Basil Bunting (of whom two fine portraits are illustrated in the book).
The book also tells the story of Lucy Wertheim (1883-1971), the pioneering London-based gallerist. Renowned for adventurously showing work by artists such as Christopher Wood (her great friend), Alfred Wallis (whom she visited in St Ives early on) and Frances Hodgkins (as well as Moore and Hepworth and others early in their careers), she gave Gommon his first solo exhibition in 1934; throughout the 30s (until the outbreak of war), she gave him a stipend of £2 a week (and all the art materials he required), which freed him to paint just as he wished.
Further details of this new book can be seen on the publisher Sansom & Company’s website: https://sansomandcompany.co.uk/product/david-gommon/