ART HISTORY FESTIVAL 2024 – Yorkshire

Better known as the Chelsea Potter, William De Morgan (1839 – 1917) was a ceramic designer of the Arts and Crafts and Aesthetic Movements. He made glistening lustreware pots and vase, and was well-known for his floral and animal tile designs. Despite being based in London for his whole life, De Morgan was mesmerised by ceramics of the Middle East and sought to replicate these in his fabulous pots. Lustreware from Iran, cool blue Ottoman Empire glazes, and Egyptian clay caught his attention and inspired his own ceramic practice. William De Morgan was a Victorian Ceramicist who worked locally, but looked globally for inspiration.

Find out more about William De Morgan’s love of Middle Eastern ceramics in this tour of the De Morgan Museum, with the Director, Sarah Hardy.

‘Behind the Scenes with George Soper’, takes a closer look at evocative drawings of rural life before the Second World War.

Join us in the gallery to explore early 20th century rural industries through these beautiful artworks.

George Soper was passionate about rural life, and in particular the working horse, capturing the spirit of the time through a true and accurate depiction of the farming year. His drawings, paintings and woodcuts show a way of life already under threat from the introduction of mechanisation. These powerful, inspiring, and beautifully observed images accurately illustrate the energy and strain of the working horse, which would soon be replaced by the more efficient tractor, in a style evocative of this era.

ADMISSION FREE

Eric Ravilious (1903-42) was always looking for what he called ‘a good place’ – a scene that inspired him. This quest took him across the downland of southern England, into the Welsh borders and further afield. Like so many of his generation he found that World War Two offered new (if dangerous) opportunities to travel: his watercolours of the June 1940 Norwegian campaign are among his finest. This wide-ranging, colourful lecture explores Ravilious the artist of the local and particular, whose influences, vision and ambition were international. James Russell is an art historian and exhibition curator. His exhibition ‘Tirzah Garwood: Beyond Ravilious’ opens at Dulwich Picture Gallery, London, in November.

Take a free guided tour of the Graves Gallery and hear about the local Sheffield and Yorkshire artists who feature in the displays. Covering portraiture, landscape, abstracts and more, the tour will be full of insights into the lives and work of several talented artists who have called Sheffield and Yorkshire home, whilst looking at their impact both locally and globally.