From the Royal Academy to the Itchen Valley
The story of Fred Appleyard’s (1874 – 1963) artistic career is one that seems to have been lost to art history. Working successfully as an accomplished Pre-Raphaelite styled painter at the turn of the 20th Century, Appleyard moved to Hampshire after the First World War and became captivated by his surroundings, changing his painting approach to British Impressionism.
Appleyard trained at the Royal Academy Schools where he was awarded the prestigious Turner Gold Medal for landscape painting. His paintings are held in national and international collections and his stunning 1903 mural for the Royal Academy restaurant wall can still be seen today.
To commemorate the 150th anniversary of his birth, this specially curated exhibition draws together gems from private and public collections and seeks to reintroduce Appleyard as one of Britain's finest painters. Following a successful run in The Arc Gallery Winchester, this exhibition highlights Fred's incredible skill and establishes him as Hampshire’s own Monet.
The exhibition includes rural landscapes of chalk streams and dappled light, tender portraits where light dances off the skin or is reflected in the dazzling Itchen water, and jewel-like, floral still-lives. Appleyard’s accomplished drawings of his beloved Itchen Valley provide us with pin-point locations that many will recognise. Most poignantly, Appleyard depicted a time when the pace of life was slower, and some would argue, gentler. These graceful scenes are a celebration of the slow act of painting, with themes relevant today, viewed through the portal of the artist’s canvas.
