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Photo Gallery:
There were several important and skilled local artists, and examples of their work are in the gallery (details below):
Charles Low - Tilford Bridge Surrey
"Hay Harvest" by Charles Low, 1880.
Charles Low (1841-1902):
Charles Low was born in Hungerford in 1841. His parents Charles and Elizabeth Low lived at 12 Bridge Street.
Charles senior was was very active in the town - a plumber and glazier. When the current Town Hall and Corn Exchange were built in 1871, Charles Low senior donated a stained-glass window
On his death in 1979 the business was taken over by one of their sons Frederick Low until c.1914.
Another son, Charles Low junior, born 1841, went to London around the age of 30 to study art during which time and subsequently he exhibited at the Royal Academy and the Society of British Artists (in which he a member).
He returned to the family home in Bridge Street, Hungerford in 1876 and lived and worked as an artist for another 20 plus years, until 1896.
Hay Harvest, 1880 by Charles Low RBA
He never married, and he was a restless soul.
In 1896, at the age of 55, he moved away again – this time to Witley, Surrey to join a circle of like-minded artists.
Whilst he was there, he was elected a member of the Royal Society of British Artists in 1897 and is therefore correctly styled R.B.A.
But this only suited him for four years and he returned to Hungerford again in 1900.
Charles Low painted in oil and watercolour. He was perhaps best known as a landscapes, especially around Hungerford and Surrey. Many fetured cattle. He also painted flowers.
He returned to the family home in Bridge Street in 1876 and lived and worked as an artist for another 20 plus years, until 1896.
In 1896, at the age of 55, he moved away again – this time to Witley, Surrey to join a circle of like-minded artists.
Whilst he was there, he was elected a member of the Royal Society of British Artists in 1897 and is therefore correctly styled R.B.A.
But this only suited him for four years and he returned to Hungerford again in 1900.
He exhibited at all the major London and provincial galleries, including 17 works at the Royal Academy, 11 at the Royal Hibernian Academy and 61 at the Royal Society of British Artists. He also showed work at the Royal Scottish Academy, the Royal Institute of Oil Painters, the Royal Institute of Painters and Watercolour, the Birmingham Society of Artists and the Walker Gallery, Liverpool.
Many paintings by Charles Low, RBA are held in private hands in Hungerford.
"The bridge, looking west at Hungerford", undated.
At least 17 of his paintings were exhibited in the Royal Academy between 1885 and 1902.
They include:
- June 1890 No 1383 "Pansies"
- June 1891 No 1340 "On Mousehill Downs"
- June 1893 No 1187 "In the Orchard"
- July 1894 No 976 "A Wiltshire Farm".
Other water-colours include:
- 1885 No 601 "Cinerarieas"
- 1891 No 1840 "Mousehole Downs"
- 1893 No 1187 "In the Orchard"
- Tilford Bridge, Surrry", an oil on canvas exh. 1873 - 1905 popular painter in oil and watercolour of English country views - signed - 30.5 x 46cm.
When the new Town Hall and Corn Exchange were being built back in 1871, the foundation stone was laid by the Sheriff of Berkshire at the time - Mr George Charles Cherry, who lived at Denford Park.
George Cherry was a barrister, and first-class cricketer.
After Mr Cherry’s death in 1887 a memorial portrait was presented by subscribers to the County of Berkshire and hung in the Grand Jury Room, Assize Court, Reading. Artist was John Hanson Walker (1844–1933).
A copy of that portrait was made, paid for by Miss Cherry, who presented it to the town of Hungerford and it hangs in the Town Hall to this day.
This copy was painted by none other than Charles Low.
The frame bears the inscription "George Charles Cherry, Esquire. Presented to the Town of Hungerford by RMC, 1889".
Incidentally, this George Cherry was uncle to the very famous Apsley George Benet Cherry-Garrard who, at the age of 24 years, was one of the youngest members of Captain Scott's famous Antarctic "Terra Nova" expedition of 1910-1913. He wrote "The Worst Journey in the World" about his experiences there.
Charles Low died in 1902.
His brother, Fred Low, continued to live at 12 Bridge Street until his death in 1938, and his cousin Emily until 1947.
Details of his exhibitions are in the Parish magazines of those years.
See also: Letter from Graham Low, 18 Sep 2000 including notes on Low family.
References:
- Graves "A Dictionary of Artists 1760-1893.
- Wood "Dictionary of Victorian Painters"
- Johnson & Greutzner "Dictionary of British Artists 1880-1940"
- Waters" Dictinary of British Artists working 1900-1950"
- R.A., T.O.I., R.H.A., R.S.A., R.B.A., Exhibitors Lists etc.
[With thanks also to P. Williams who contacted the Virtual Museum with updated information, and to Derek Styles for sending further images of Low paintings].
George Shepherd:
The Photo Gallery includes a delightful watercolour of the old Town Hall, Hungerford, painted by George Shepherd in 1829.
Follow this for more on George Shepherd.
Follow this link for more on Town Halls.
Paul Nash:
Paul Nash (11 May 1889 - 11 Jul 1946), the British surrealist painter and war artist, painted a watercolour study of Hungerford in 1943. A monochrome print of this (shown in the Photo Gallery) was published in a collection of his works in 1948, shortly after his death.
Sara Fricker kindly contacted the Virtual Museum (Sep 2018) with the following additional information: "Here's a bit about Paul Nash's thoughts on Hungerford, from a book written by Nash's friend Margot Eates:
Hungerford is one of those small and wholly English market towns, which could not possibly be found anywhere else in the world. Its Englishness appealed to Paul immensely, and the watermeadows near its church were the inspiration for a very simple and lovely Landscape Study at Hungerford, in which it seems that Nash felt no need to pursue his quest for equivalence, for the landscape itself revealed its inner meaning without need of any symbolism in which to express it. The handling of the watercolour is reminiscent of the drawings at the canal at Hythe twenty years earlier and conveys a sense of the English landscape painter 'rediscovering' his native land.
You might also be interested in these photographs Nash took at Hungerford, possibly at the same time the painting was made:
John "Tom" Simson:
In the Corn Exchange are three paintings (shown in the Photo Gallery) by the local artist John Adhemar "Tom" Simson. They were purchased by the Town & Manor of Hungerford in 1984. Each depicts an episode of great significance to the history of Hungerford.
Tom Simson pointed out that all the scenes depicted are fictional, and adds the details which may add to your enjoyment of the paintings:
The costumes are taken from three main sources:
- "Le Costume chez les Peuples Anciens et Modernes" by Fr Hottenroth, published in Paris.
- Various illustrated manuscripts of the 14th century in the British Museum, London and the Bodleian Library, Oxford.
- In the case of the Rennie picture, from contemporary paintings of the late 18th century.
1. "St Lawrence offering the poor and needy to the Church instead of gold". The cloisters in the St Lawrence picture are in the small French town of St Justin just south east of Roquefort in Gascony. These were used simply for their attractive colour and form.
2. "John of Gaunt presenting his charter to the Town and Manor of Hungerford". John of Gaunt has just returned from a hunt and is shown on Hungerford Down near the present gate to the Common.
3. "John Rennie being welcomed by the Constable of Hungerford at the opening of the Kennet and Avon Canal from Kintbury to Hungerford"
Follow this for more on John "Tom" Simson.
See also:
- Parish Magazine, Sep 1889, Jun 1890, Jun 1891, Jun 1893, Jul 1894.
The Canal Wharf, 2011