Henrietta Stuart Abstract Landscape Artist

The Philosophy

I paint abstracts in oil on canvas, in which I aim to evoke time and place, using colour and light. The paintings are based on 'things seen': formerly still life, now mostly landscape. I paint in thin layers, laying paint over paint to exploit its transparency, a technique of which Turner and Titian were both masters.

My formative influences included Georgio Morandi, Paul Cézanne, Georges Braque, Mark Rothko, Robert Motherwell, and Clyfford Still. Morandi is remembered for pointing out that "There is nothing more abstract than the visible world". I in my own way set out to make abstract compositions out of things I have seen, and been moved by: "A world observed and translated - a world created from the natural and the man-made: 'still life' a still life both drawn and felt, as one would admire and caress a well-loved jug, or wonder at the light on the water of the Thames on a calm spring morning" - was how I put it myself some years ago, and it still holds true.

The Process

My paintings have developed over the years from abstracts based on still life to compositions woven from images taken from the natural world. My inspiration as always is from what I have seen. The compositions are worked up from extensive drawing, both of the landscape and of still life groups set up in the studio. The finished pieces range from almost totally abstract compositions evoking a sense of place to more easily recognisable landscape images: the natural world modulated by time and season, disclosed by visual texture and colour.

Colour and light play the most important parts in my work. Colour is used to evoke emotion, and gives a sense of time and place; light is used to create space and to mask and hide objects, creating a sense of mystery.

The Places

Usually there is a recognisable 'formative influence', thus: my work in 2002 and '03 was influenced by months spent in Southern India and Sri Lanka - Keralan coastal ports with their fishing villages and vibrant markets, light over the waters of the Arabian Sea and the inland waterways, the dry and barren inlands of Tamil Nadu and the hills and mountains of the Nilgaris and the Western Ghats. Over the same period I managed some time painting in Britain, in the South Downs near Seaford, and in the open chalk-down countryside around Winchester - yet more influences.

In 2003 I spent an extended period of time in the south of France and for the past year I have been inspired by that very different landscape. My french home in 2004 was in the raised circulade (village) of St Pons de Mauchiens in the Herault, dominated by its 'garrigues' - a landscape of limestone uplands, many surmounted by vineyards, planted in what looks like just shattered rock. We are also near the coast, and I have painted the littoral around the nearby port of Sète, and the enclosed waters of the Bassin de Thau-Bouzigues, with its mussel-beds and characteristic boats, the waters calm and reflective especially early in the morning. In 2005 I moved to a new studio in Neffies, where the surrounding countryside has provided a new influence on the 2005 Autumn collection. The latest canvases have a brief explanation of the inspiration on their label.

In 2007, I travelled to the Greek island of Ithaca, in the Ionian Sea. I spent four months on the island walking, sketching and painting. It is now however back in France and back in my studio that I can start to see the influences coming through and enriching the compositions. Ithaca has shown unique Ionian softness and calm juxtaposed against the bustle of the ports with their fishing boats and flotillas. The panoramic views from the hilltop villages, or sea mists obscuring all but the occasional silhouette. The warmth, noise and whirl of the Panighiria festivals set against the quiet of the early morning seas seen over a carpet of spring colour.

Biographical
Born 1965 (London), schooled Orleans, Twickenham and Marlborough College
1984-1988 University of Newcastle upon Tyne
1988-1992 lived and worked in Marseilles, associating with French artists
1993 returned to London, setting up studio in Chiswick
1997-2003 moved to Chertsey near the Artists Studios,
2003- present, time has been shared between the South of France and the UK.

Qualifications and awards
BA Hons (first class) in Fine Art, University of Newcastle upon Tyne
1984 - John Christie Prize for Art
1988 - John Christie Prize for Painting
2001 - National Physical Laboratory painting competition, second prize.

Group exhibitions
1989 Exposition Marseilles du Credit, Marseilles 6em
1991 L'école du Treizième 'Travail fait sur Place'
1992 Gallerie des Tableaux.
1995 '19 Artists '95' at Whiteleys, Queensway, London
1997 St Ives, Cornwall 'Out of the Shadow' (part of the Peninsula Programme)
1998 Art Présent Galerie, Paris - 'Le Groupe des Quatre'
From 1998 - 2003 annual Chertsey Artists exhibitions.
2004 The Chelsea Art Society annual exhibition.
2006 Gallerie L’Hermitage Le Touquet France
2007 Chelsea Art society

Solo Exhibitions
The Molesey Gallery 1996 and '98
The Salthouse Gallery, St Ives 1997
The Space Gallery, Fulham 1998
The Windsor Street Gallery, Chertsey, 2000
Nicholas Bowlby, Poundgate, Sussex,October 2004.
Nicholas Bowlby – Notting Hill Gate London 2005
Festival de Valloires - Argoulles France 2006
Festival de Valloires- Argoulles France 2007 (www.festival-valloires.com )

Art Fairs
1995-8 and 2002, 3 & 4 - Landmark Arts Centre, Teddington
1997, '99 and '01 - Battersea Contemporary Art Fair, London
2002, 2003, 2004 ,2005.2006,2007- The Affordable Art Fair, Battersea Park, London ( Nicholas Bowlby Stand)
2007 Parisot Art Fair ( Tarn et Garonne) www.parisot-art-festival.com

Commercial Galleries - selected works
- Ropner Gallery in Wandsworth, - the Molesey Gallery, - the Plumbline Gallery - the Salthouse Gallery in St Ives, - the Fairfax,
- Bowlby and the Stevenson Galleries in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, - the Gallery at Architecture Ltd in Greenwich,
- the Smith Gallery in Teddington, - the Frivoli Gallery in Chiswick, - Moreton Contemporary in Pimlico, London,
- the Anderson Hill Gallery in Kingston upon Thames, - CCA Gallery in Farnham, Hants, - Farr's Gallery in Ripley, Surrey
- Eyestorm / Britart.com on the Internet, - Barn Gallery, Henley ("Artspace" '03 and '05),
- Webbs Gallery, Wandsworth, London SW11,
- Llewellyn Alexander Gallery, - "Not the Royal Academy" 2004, 2005,2006 &2007.

And also
From 1996, in the Landmark Arts Centre, Teddington, three large paintings hung, on loan.

To contact HENRIETTA STUART,
Telephone: Jonty Prout +44 (0)1892 512941
e-mail: information@henriettastuart.com

Reproduction is expressly forbidden without written authorisation of the artist.

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