GF Watts: Parables in Paint at St Paul's Cathedral
17/11/08
‘Parables in Paint' explores the religious and spiritual dimension of Watts's art and the way that this underpins his sense of social responsibility. The exhibition consists of 28 oil paintings and 44 drawings from the collection of Watts Gallery, including studies for the spandrel mosaics created by Watts beneath the Cathedral's dome.
In addition, the Cathedral's nave will see the return of two celebrated paintings; Time, Death and Judgement, was given to St Paul's by Watts in 1899, followed by Peace and Goodwill, given by Mary Watts in 1907 and first hung in the nave exactly 100 years ago.
GF Watts was one of Victorian England's greatest religious painters. However, unlike his contemporary, William Holman Hunt, painter of The Light of the World, he did not possess a conventional religious faith. The Christianity to which he was exposed as a child emphasizes sin and a judging, vengeful God. The experience left the artist suspicious of organized, conventional religion.
Yet his Christian upbringing shaped the moral and social ideals which he conveys through his art and coloured his choice of biblical subject matter. Watts also retained a sense of the profound importance of a spirituality which gives meaning and value to material existence. This understanding grew deeper as he grew older.
More than 80 paintings, drawings and sculpture will also be on show in ‘GF Watts, Victorian Visionary: Highlight from the Watts Gallery Collection' at Guildhall Art Gallery.
Alongside the St Paul's and Guildhall exhibitions, Watts in the City of London will also include a Wwatts Symposiu, the Heroes Picnic at Postman's Park (Spring 2009) and the publication of a Watts in London map highlighting sites across the capital associated with the great painter.
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For more information, images and interviews please contact Hannah Talbot, Press & Communications Officer, St Paul's Cathedral on 0207 246 8321 or email hannah@stpaulscathedral.org.uk
Notes to editors:
- For further information on the exhibitions , Watts in the City of London, Watts Gallery and GF Watts please visit http://www.wattsgallery.org.uk/
- Listings information:
GF Watts, Parables in Print
Date and times: 1 December 2008 - 30 July 2008
Tickets: Usual Cathedral entry charges apply.
- Events to accompany the exhibition include:
The Scott Holland Sermon on 7 December. The Dean of York, The Very Reverend Keith Jones, will preach a sermon about Canon Henry Scott Holland at the 1130am Sung Eucharist. Canon Henry Scott Holland asked GF Watts to donate a work of art to St Paul's Cathedral, and in 1899 Watts gifted Time, Death and Judgement to St Paul's.
The 2009 Watts Symposium (26&27 February) will hold its second day at St Paul's Cathedral, where speakers including Professor Sir Christopher Frayling, will explore Watts within a spiritual context.
- St Paul's is the cathedral church of the diocese of London, which it has served for over 1,400 years. The current building has become a potent symbol of the life of a nation and is also one of the world's most beautiful buildings. Designed by Sir Christopher Wren in the late seventeenth century, its stones have absorbed the hopes, fears, sorrows and joys of generations and stand as an enduring symbol of our communion with those gone before and those still to come. Each year nearly two million people flock to the Cathedral for services, concerts, debates, educational events, performing arts and sightseeing. All are most welcome.
