This year will see the 50-year anniversary of the relationship between the artist Louis Turpin and the Rye Art Gallery and as such it is a fitting time for the gallery to celebrate this, and his return to painting after illness, in their exhibition Onward Journeys – Garden and Landscapes (on until March 17). On show are a vibrant collection of 20 recent oil paintings, and ink and pencil drawings of local gardens, including Great Dixter and Nymans, and landscapes from his studio and the surrounding area.
Louis grew up in Brixton, the son of two artists. He studied architecture for four terms and enjoyed it but realised that he was more interested in making 2-d objects and so went on to study fine art at Falmouth School of Art. He has been a full-time painter since 1985 and as well as solo shows has exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery, The Royal Academy, The Royal Society of Portrait Painters and international art fairs.
In Louis’s garden paintings, the viewer is immersed in borders and flower beds full of colour, and various forms and textures, where plants and flowers are recognisable but are not painted to create meticulous realism. They are not representations of one viewpoint but a combination of different elements of a garden. The pictures have a combination of abstraction in the loose underpainting and descriptive detail painted over this.
Louis explains: “When I visit a garden I walk around and absorb it, playing with ideas in my head responding to what is there, recording ideas in pencil drawings or using a camera. I have a feel for colour and when I get to the studio, I cover the canvas in paint in different areas of colour, so it looks like an abstract, and then overpaint details on top. I enjoy the evolving fluidity of the marks on top of the primary painting.”
The low viewpoint and lusciousness of the colour and shape, give the painting a sense of flatness, emphasising the picture plane. But the upright forms of buildings, hedges, trees and plants also give the paintings a structure and sense of space.
“I am pleased that I did the architecture training,” Louis says. “Architectural drawing is quite specific and has allowed me to convey a sense of space and structure. Most of my paintings have an element of distance – a view over a hedge, a building, a glimpse of a distant landscape and the sky. A high horizon is a feature of my work.”
After visiting a garden, Louis will paint several canvases with the abstract underpainting and put them on the wall of his studio. This enables him to look at them and respond to what they suggest to him, it is an intuitive process, and from there he will decide which one he will work on.
“I always enjoy the painting that I am working on, it is always fulfilling for me. My work has changed subtly over time. I can see slight differences, see what interests me at that moment.”
Having been involved with the Rye Art Gallery for many years, and exhibiting in galleries around the country, Louis has a valuable insight into the uniqueness of the gallery.
“Rye Art Gallery has always been a gallery that punches above its weight. In the 80s, I reached out for more exposure around the country in places such as Cork Street in London, in Henley, Bath and so saw what other local galleries did. Good quality galleries are few and far between and Rye Art Gallery exhibits good artists both in retrospectives and selling artists’ work. It is good to see the permanent collection on display amongst the exhibitions. It’s a surprise to see early works such as a gold-framed Victorian painting amongst the present-day work.”
Louis’s paintings are a celebration of nature and of gardens: they capture the vision of their designers, and his passion for the shapes and abundance of colour of the planting.
As the gallery director of Rye Art Gallery, Dr Julian Day says about the artist and his work:
“A final word – it becomes evident as one gets to know this affable, cultured, engaging man full of stories, that he is also a very disciplined painter, driven by certain core beliefs and values, including a real sense of endless optimism, alongside a belief in the importance of a kind of cultivated order to things. This works in perfect harmony with his ability and skill to transport us into his daring world of vivid colour, with joyful ‘gardenscapes’ of reimagined spaces with everything in its place, to be discovered anew.”
Louis Turpin Onward Journeys – Garden and Landscapes is on until March 17 at the Rye Art Gallery.
Louis Turpin talks about his work at Rye Art Gallery in October 2021:
Image Credits: John Cole , Lou Marcellin , Louis Turpin/ Rye Art Gallery , Louis Turpin/Rye Art Gallery Permanent Collection .
Thoroughly enjoyed reading about Louis Turpin and his long relationship with Rye Art Gallery. His paintings, the planting and flowering colours are beautifully uplifting and immersive.