Hugh Winterbottom 21/11/2022 Hugh Winterbottom 21/11/2022

New Cityscape paintings exhibition and offer

EXCITED TO ANNOUNCE THAT I WILL BE EXHIBITING AT THE GALLERY HOLT

I will be exhibiting in the Cross roads exhibition 14th January - 21st February 2023 along with other artist in the prestigious Holt gallery In Norfolk.“Difficult Roads often lead to beautiful destinations.”

An exhibition of original paintings of the urban landscape. Over half of the worlds’ population, some 4.2 billion inhabitants*, live in our cities around the world. This exhibition will focus on inspirational and diverse architecture which can be found in some of the most recognisable locations around the world. There will be 19 artist exhibiting altogether.

WHY I PAINT CITYSCAPES

I decided many years ago to try and paint with honesty and sincerity. I grew up (and still live) in Oldham in Greater Manchester, a town historically populated with terrace houses, factories and mills. From an early age I recollect on hot summer days how hot the bricks would get in the burning sun on the gable ends of buildings, and how they would cast shadows from one building to the next. Taking the maxim ‘paint what you know’ to heart, I took this largely industrial and urban landscape as my subject matter.

So I decided to paint the cityscapes and townscapes of the north of England. I started in the centre of Manchester because I found the mix of new and old buildings exciting and fascinating.

Manchester has lots of historic buildings mostly dating back to the industrial revolution; lots of lovely redbrick and fine sandstone carvings from the Victorian era alongside the current glass and steel of the modern day. On a sunny day, or a very rainy day, with the people that live and work there, they really come to life .

You may notice the colour blue runs through all my paintings; lots of blue skies with wispy cirrus clouds and rich blue shadows and reflections in windows. This is because blue is my favourite colour. I find it a very positive colour, and I want people to feel positive and happy when they look at my paintings of the city in the summer, though I do paint towns and cities in the rain as well. The good thing about painting the rain is you get two of everything in the puddles and reflections!

NOW FOR THE CITYSCAPE OFFER

Never done this with a cityscape before but it is nearly Christmas so this lovely extravagance of light and shadow.

Title Northern quarter oil on canvas 40 x 50 cm is now £450

Contact me if you are interested

Hugh Winterbottom 11/10/2022 Hugh Winterbottom 11/10/2022

Harrogate art show and a bit of art history

Befor reading this i would like to let you know i am Dyslexic.

The first bit of art news i am pleased to announce on the 14 - 16th October I will be Exhibiting at the Harrogate art fair the preview will be on Friday evening i will be on stand B43.

The the art show will take place at the Great Yorkshire Showground Harrogate HG2 8NZ

The show is looking to be a impressive show.

If you would like a free ticket let me know.

NOW FOR A BIT OF ART HISTORY THE BEGINNING OF THE FAUVISM GROOP

. Well in short the beginning of the Fauvism begins in Ecole des Beaux-Arts ‘School of Fine Art’ in Paris. In 1895

One of the more liberal and one of the most dedicated art teachers at the Ecole was Gustave Moreau.

Moreau had been a professor at Ecole since 1892

In 1895 Henri Matisse, Albert Marquet and Henri Manguin, the artis that formed the centre of the Fauve group.

Albert Marquet Walk on the jetty at Saint - Adresse 1906

Moreau class consisted of about 50 students the classes where loud with easels and stools being thrown around shouting and music being played. There where different sets of people in the class the rich set that talked about sport mainly horses then there where the hooligans. These accounts come from former students from the time. The serious students like Matisse had to find a quiet spot in the studio to get on with there work.

None of the students mentioned Had yet created work that resembles Fauvism art.

Hugh Winterbottom 01/09/2022 Hugh Winterbottom 01/09/2022

How i work and a bit of art history and a special offer

Before reading this just like to say i am dyslexic thank you

In my work I always push my boundaries I always aim to paint the best painting I have ever painted or even the best painting in the world. I may not achieve this but the painting might be quite good this is something that Lucian Freud used to say it works really well.

I am always experimenting and out of all the experiments I take the best ones and put them in one painting.

When I am not painting I am Reading about art and art history. I have decided to study the history of modern art from the year 1900 onwards to get a better picture of how it developed.

So briefly I have started with Paul Cezanne, Who went his separate ways from the impressionist to find a new way of painting and became known as the father of modern art. Photo below Mont Sainte-Victoire seen from Bellevue 1886 Paul Cezanne

Georges Seurat born twenty years after Cezanne, he embraced the latest scientific research into colour especially The research that Eugene Chevreul on the division of light into its constituent colours. Seurat put this down on canvas and is now known as pointillism.

Photo below A Sunday afternoon on the island of La grand jette 1884-1886 Georges Seurat

Then came Henri Matisse Andre Derain and others in a movement called Les Fauves (the wild beasts) this movement fascinates me The movement only lasted about five years it was more a group of artist finding a new way to Paint rather than a movement Using colour to express their feelings but not necessarily the colour of the subject which resulted with the painting looking violent to the eye.

Photo below Portrait of Madame Matisse. The green line 1905

A lot of these artists in these movements pushed them selves striving for a new way of seeing.

I will go in more in-depth about this in another blog.

In other news I am having a bit of a sorting out in the studio. And I have decided to have a special sale of this beautiful painting. Title Lunddunden village oil on canvas 40x56cm Nicely framed This painting is one of the original paintings in the solo exhibition Now The North exhibition at the Salford city art gallery in 2015

I am selling this painting for £400

If you are interested please contact me.

So that’s it for now until my next blog

Hugh Winterbottom 23/04/2022 Hugh Winterbottom 23/04/2022

This is my first blog let it be about the Landscape Inside Out Exhibition

Liz Ackerley and Hugh Winterbottom are local artists with studios in Mossley. This is their first joint large-scale exhibition exploring the surrounding landscapes, moors, woodland and valleys.

Winterbottom is an oil painter from Oldham. He has an affinity with and understanding of these landscapes. Ackerley, a mixed media artist, grew up in the south surrounded by heathland. She has a background in landscape design and a fascination and connection with her locality.

The title for this exhibition is based on the way both artists explore their surrounding landscapes. They create drawings and paintings, out on location, as a basis for studio work. Their extensive outside studies form a direct connection with their experiences. They bring into the gallery the atmospheric feelings of the landscapes they have come to know so well.

The artwork for the exhibition was created from early 2020 onwards, during the Covid pandemic. This impacted the overall remit of the exhibition and gave it a more local and intimate focus. It enabled a more thorough exploration of the landscapes on foot, in different weathers and seasons, and from different viewpoints.

The collaboration enables two very different, yet complementary, ways of interpreting the same landscapes. Winterbottom’s oil paintings create depth and atmosphere through his exploration of colour and light. Ackerley’s dynamic mixed media paintings seek to present her feelings about the landscapes by exploring the rich visual language of vistas and details.