Writtle Art Group October 2017 Exhibition

On the weekend of 14^th and 15^th October the sun shone and we were blessed with some unusually warm weather. Around 220 visitors turned up in the Village Hall to view the annual Autumn exhibition of the Writtle Art Group. This year, however, attendance numbers were slightly lower, possibly because art-lovers were out enjoying the countryside.

Nevertheless, the Group members and Associates put on a quite spectacular display of over 300 paintings in a variety of styles, some of which are shown in the following pages. The exhibition was made up of 167 framed pictures and 136 portfolio (unframed) paintings. Although the sales of artworks was below the level of recent years, the income from teas, coffees and cakes exceeded expectations.

As a regular feature of the Autumn exhibition, the general public were asked to vote for their favourite framed picture on show by members of the main Monday art group. A total of 75 paintings qualified as entrants for the Leslie Bass Trophy – a competition that dates back to 1976. Voting was spread widely over the range of styles on show, but strangely this year visitors seemed to favour the more traditional watercolour paintings over some of the more modern entries.

In a close finish, three paintings all received 12 votes each, but as two of these were painted by artist John Robinson, he was elected the worthy winner and his name will be added to the prestigious Bass plaque. Full details of the voting were as follows:

‘St. Michael’s Mount, Cornwall’ – Watercolour by John Robinson (12 votes)

‘Abandoned Cricket Pavilion, Norfolk’ – Watercolour by John Robinson (12 votes)

‘Dance Art Deco’ – Acrylic painting by Peter Robson (12 votes)

The runner-up was:

‘Brodsworth Hall, South Yorkshire’ – Watercolour, also by John Robinson (11 votes)

A Selection of Paintings from the Exhibition