Victorian Art in Britain

The Alfred East Gallery 
Sheep Street, Kettering Northants
Telephone : 01536 534274

The Gallery was opened in 1913, specifically to house a collection of paintings by Sir Alfred East RA 1844-1913. East, described as ‘England’s greatest living landscape painter,’ had presented seventy of his pictures to the town of his birth on condition that a gallery was built to house them. The gallery was opened on the 31st July 1913 by Earl Spencer, who was, I think, the great grandfather of the late Princess of Wales. Unhappily East was too ill to attend the opening, and died less than three months later. Within a year the First World War had started, and the gallery started to house temporary exhibitions to raise money for the Red Cross. In 1934, the gallery bought a superb collection of works by another Kettering-born artist Thomas Cooper Gotch 1854-1931. The tradition of temporary exhibitions continues to this day. Sadly limitations of space mean that the excellent main collection spends much of it’s time in store. I wonder if this would happen in any other country, given the standard and importance of the pictures. There is however some good news in that the excellent staff at the gallery, and some of their volunteers, can arrange for visitors to see the pictures in store. It is necessary book a visit for them to be able to do this, and to give adequate notice.

The Alfred East Gallery is one of Britain’s best-kept artistic secrets, and is really worth a journey to visit. Sensibly, though, pre-book your visit to see the pictures in store.

You will find biographies of Sir Alfred East, and Thomas Cooper Gotch in the artists section of this site.  

The Collections - Some of The Paintings.   

Sir Alfred East RA

Self Portrait 1912
This confident painting was produced by the artist just one year before his death. The painter totally dominates the canvass, sharply outlined in the foreground, with a background verging on impressionistic. It is a remarkable image, and very rare amongst his output. East shows himself totally in control, and is every inch the distinguished artist at the height of his powers.  
This picture was on display at the time of my visit. 

A Misty Moonrise.
This picture was part of the artist’s original gift to the gallery in 1913. It is a large nocturnal picture with the moon rising mistily, against a moody sky, over the hills in the background. The colours are wonderful, particularly the blue of the hills. The whole effect is striking and very atmosphreic. In the foreground, though, trees and grass are painted in some detail. A wonderful picture.  
This painting was in store at the time of my visit.

Newby Bridge, Windermere.
This landscape was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1913. It shows the bridge on a windy autumn day, with a lone figure walking over it in the middle distance. In the foreground are an elderly couple on the way to market. Birds fly high in the sky, which is sullen in the distance. East had great expertise in creating these brooding bleak landscapes, one can almost feel the cold wind, and the overall effect has echoes of the paintings of John Constable.  
The painting was in store at the time of my visit.

The Alfred East Gallery has a wide-ranging collection of East’s pictures including etchings, and watercolours. My prime motivation in visiting was to see the pictures of Thomas Cooper Gotch, but I left with a considerably increased respect for Alfred East, nowadays a rather neglected figure.

Thomas Cooper Gotch.  

Death The Bride.
One of Gotch’s most famous paintings, a work I have seen reproduced many times. It was not an anti-climax to see it’ in the flesh.’ Following the artist’s visit to Italy in the early 1890s he moved totally away from the Newlyn style. He moved towards a totally individual form of symbolism, his paintings becoming highly- finished, and detailed. This picture brings to mind Beata Beatrix by Rossetti. The mysterious female figure is Death herself, with the surrounding poppies being a symbol of death, and, of course, a narcotic. She welcomes the viewer, drawing aside her veil. It is a morbid image, but it is also beautiful, accomplished, and somehow consoling. It is one of the great late Victorian Images.
This painting was in store at the time of my visit.

The Orchard 1887
 This relatively early painting was produced by the artist shortly after his move to Newlyn, and shows the short-lived influence of the Newlyn school on Gotch at it’s strongest. The young girl in the centre of the picture is Gotch’s daughter Phyllis (born 1882), who was a model for a number of his pictures, including ‘The Child Enthroned,’ perhaps the painter’s masterpiece. This canvass probably shows the direction the artist would have taken, but for his pivotal visit to Italy in 1891.
This work was on show at the time of my visit. 

The Vow
 This watercolour was acquired by the gallery in 1932. It is, I think, one of the painter’s most remarkable paintings, and shows his talent at it’s best. He was a great watercolourist, and this symbolist painting really seems to have an extra dimension, showing his talent at it’s best, with the use of the medium adding an extra sublety and spirituality to his work. The moving force behind the work was, perhaps, the idealistic artist’s support of the rights of women, especially the suffragette movement of the time. It was a profoundly moving experience to see ‘The Vow. If nothing else had done so, this would have made the visit to the Alfred East Gallery worthwhile.
The picture was in store at the time of my visit. 

Madonna of the Mount 1926
 Another accomplished, an oil painting that could almost be a watercolour, with the mount clearly visible in the background. The face of the Madonna is really a marvellous piece of painting, with delicate shadowing, and flesh tones. The child is, perhaps less successfully rendered, but still a great picture.  
The picture was in store at the time of my visit.

The Exile ‘ Heavy Is The Price I Paid For Love.’ 1930
 In Gotch’s later years he tended to opt out somewhat, and he painted a large number of pleasant, but not distinguished watercolours. This remarkable portrait is proof, however, that well into his seventies, and only a year before his death, his imagination and facility to paint had not deteriorated. It is, I suppose, a symbolist painting, but is valid in it’s own right as a fastidious, beautifully rendered portrait of a young women. The face of the model is most attractively and accurately painted, and her sad wistful expression is captured very well.
This picture was not on show at the time of my visit. 

The Flag 191
This painting is yet another expression of the painter’s preoccupation with the sanctity and innocence of childhood which permeates so much of his work.

Mrs Fielden, Violinist
This enormous portrait was acquired by the gallery in 1952. It was in store at the time of my visit, and the combination of it’s considerable size, and the constricted viewing space made it difficult to appreciate the picture. I would very much like to see it on display.
This picture was in store at the time of my visit.

John Alfred Gotch
A most striking portrait of the artist’s distinguished brother, painted in 1926. The elderly sitter comes vividly to light in this portrait.
This picture was on show at the time of my visit. 

Sources.
The gallery has two excellent, inexpensive small books, giving biographical details, lists of paintings, and crtiques of East and Gotch which I have used for this listing. I strongly recommend them to visitors. Buy them.