The Leicestershire Town of Uppingham is noted certainly for its famous private school but the Goldmark Gallery in the town certainly deserves more than a passing mention. One connection with school is that this was attended by the brother of Vera Brittain who would write Testament of Youth to immortalise her deep personal losses of World War I and the futility of war.
The world of art sends fine tendrils near and far across the world which engage the interest of those that seek the subtle messages conveyed by them. Thus to the Goldmark Gallery are drawn those that have the appetite to share the lines newly drawn and fashioned, the paint but lately set on canvas and the legacy of those that left impressions that will in time become as it were a layer of archaeological artistic heritage.
There are many artists for which working with the Goldmark Gallery has been a transforming experience. Not only would the gallery host exhibitions of an artist’s work, the artist would on occasion be supported financially while a specific collection was being produced. The year 2023 was in fact the 50th anniversary of the opening of the gallery by Mike Goldmark.
The gallery employees an extensive team of art professionals to support the gallery’s activities.
A remarkable treasure I once observed within the gallery was a set of 36 first edition wood engravings from the workshop of Albrecht Dürer dating from 1511 and known as the ‘Small Passion’. The Goldmark Gallery obtained the items and skilfully produced prints from them. On inspecting them closely one day, the gallery owner Mike Goldmark offered to reveal some of the secrets of the ancient craft, but foolishly, I declined. An opportunity to learn something novel, missed.
The Print Studio: Goldmark Atelier
Goldmark Atelier is a specialist fine art print studio and limited edition publisher linked to the Goldmark Gallery. The facility works directly with artists and galleries to produce a wide range of high quality print types. The facility has extensive facilities for Screen Printing – up to 4ft by 3ft: Etching – with three presses, the largest of which can print up to 5ft by 3ft: Digital – facilities include Epson printers (SureColor P9000 and Stylus Pro 11880) which use archival inks: Relief presses for processes such as Woodcut and Linocut: Stone Lithography – which includes a dedicated Stone Lithography area: Letterpress – includes a collection of antique metal and wood type for specialist printing.
Goldmark tv
The channel, which was created in 2019, contains high quality content that increases the depth of understanding of the art featured in the gallery.
The video channel is available at:-
https://www.goldmarkart.com/blogs/goldmark-tv
Why wait for the occasional interesting piece from Sky Arts; there is much more of value to see here.
John Piper
Works by John Piper, emergent in his works in the post World War II era, as I recall, were always on view in the gallery. It is recorded that after being commissioned to make drawings of Windsor Castle, King George VI inspected the new works and commented ‘ You seem to have very bad luck with your weather, Mr Piper’. This was perhaps in reference to the subdued tones and colours of the extensive set of drawings. The gallery hosts perhaps the largest collection in the world of his works which are for sale. A expertly crafted documentary video of 75 minutes length provides a fascinating account of his path of artistic discovery and achievement. I discovered, for example, that the vast Baptistry Window in the resurrected Coventry Cathedral which I had often encountered was his design.
More details of the artists work can be found at:-
Sir John Tenniel
The gallery, among its extensive collection includes sets of Sir John Tenniel’s illustrations for Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass. These were produced from the original woodblocks that were used initially to produce electrotype copies for commercial printing. The woodblocks were rediscovered in 1985 from which a unique edition of 250 of the 91 illustrations was produced by the Rocket Press in London, with various prints still available from the Goldmark Gallery.
More details of the artist’s work can be found at:-
David Kirk
One artist that made an impression was David Kirk, whose depiction of a cricket match immediately made a connection when a work colleague, a cricket enthusiast, was due to retire. The picture was duly purchased as part of his retirement presentation. One strand of the work of David Kirk centres round a form of surrealistic style which connects with the great sea of subconscious thoughts.
The link below provides more information about his work.
Jenny Grevatte
Having seen the work of Jenny Gravatte at several galleries in England, the Goldmark Gallery hosted in 2023 an exhibition of her recent work which uses a crisp contemporary style to execute a wide range of subjects and styles. A video in which she describes her recent work is highly enlightening for artists always looking to refine and develop their artistic techniques. It was quite comforting to learn also that a certain number of her ‘good’ works are actually painted over less successful ones – implying that the creative process has good days and not so good days. The link below provides more information about her work.
And Finally…
Do visit the main website for details of artists and be very pleasantly surprised:-
