Northleach Market Place – but as you have never seen it before

Eh? I hear you say, wait a minute, the left hand side of the painting is recognisable, but what is that building on the right?

In fact the picture above is a painting by Chris Fothergill, but a very close copy of an ink and watercolour painting of the Market Place by an artist, Frederick Stockdale. The original is in a museum in Devizes, Wiltshire, and came to light last year, untitled, but has since been traced to Northleach, and the artist verified.

The marvellous thing about it is it reveals for the first time what the old Market Hall (the building on column supports to the right) actually looked like, with the High Market Cross in the immediate foreground. It has long been known that the Market Hall existed and it has shown on old plans of the town, but until now there has been no image of it, as it was demolished in the 1820’s, which pre-dates even the earliest photography. As the rest of the Market Place and the Church is so accurately and well observed, even the pub sign showing a white horse (the name of the pub then, which is now the Sherborne Arms), then it is almost certainly a faithful rendition. The poor condition of the hall with its windows filled, and crumbling edges is quite apparent.

I was very excited to have such a new side of Northleach revealed, and couldn’t wait to copy the painting for myself. The artist’s use of pen and watercolour style is so similar to my own that it came easily to produce a copy, and I believe at a glance one would be hard put to tell the difference. Originally I was going to keep it for myself, but someone in the town persuaded me to sell it to them, and then another person persuaded me to paint another copy for them! After which I decided I would produce a small edition of fine art copies of 100 numbered and signed Giclee prints on watercolour paper.

• These Market Place Prints of Northleach are now available for purchase;

The image size is approx 13” x 8” and framed approx 19” x 14”.
I’m offering them at £79.00 fully framed with a single washlined double mount in a quiet gold frame. (Unframed mounted and packaged £49.00)

• Actually I did paint it once more for myself so I would have an original on my wall, but with a seasonal difference! See below:

 

Happy Christmas!

‘A Street in Northleach’ by L. S. Lowry 1947

 (This painting is a copy by me, in acrylic paints on canvas)

Which is in fact ‘The Green, Northleach’ featuring Tudor House, home to Fothergills Gallery for 15 years from 1994 to 2010, to the left hand side of the painting!

This painting by Lowry came to light recently in Christie’s auction house, and sold for around £265,000. So what you may ask? Well I was tickled to think that our old shop was painted by Lowry at all.

I knew he had been to Northleach and done a charcoal sketch of The Green, as I had seen a copy of it, but I didn’t know he had gone on to do a painting.

It is set in the bitter winter of 1947, with children playing in the snow. I was so taken with the scene that I decided to paint a copy of Lowry’s original. Stretching a canvas to the original size of 18” x 21.5” I painted a thick layer of titanium white over the canvas in a rough texture as one might artex a ceiling. Then painting in the outlines with ivory black I began blocking in colours and putting in figures, then painting around them, and adding thin colour over thick, then more white. I studied the paintwork on the original (online!) and Lowry obviously worked back and forth in all sorts of ways. I found out that he only ever used five colours in oils; flake white, ivory black, vermillion, Prussian blue and yellow ochre. Getting into the mind of another artist is never easy, and I only used acrylics instead of oils so that I could accomplish the painting quickly and the thick paint would dry fast.

It was a fascinating exercise, and I was pleased with the result, which on the face of it is quite similar to the original. I put a thinnest watery grey wash over the top afterwards to age the thick paint, and some button polish near the edges to give a mucky patina.

Great fun, but I don’t think I’ll get £265,00 for it! The Ox House Wine Company in the Market Place, Northleach might just hang it in their Wine Bar though, it should make a good talking point!

Christmas Bonanza at the Westwoods Centre Northleach

 










Saturday 13th November 
10.00am - 4.00pm

Experience a magical Christmas shopping extravaganza.... Plenty of gift ideas and festive delights for family & friends.

FREE PARKING  ~ FREE ADMISSION

SPRING CHICKEN CARDS & GIFTS
We'll have a selection of our best-selling Spring Chicken cards and gifts from our Spring Chicken online store........Cards, Mugs, Teatowels and Aprons, Paper Napkins, Bottle Bags, Coasters and more!

Plus Cotswold Calendars, Cards, Paintings and Prints by Chris.

 www.northleachbonanza.co.uk

Northleach Charter Fair

Northleach Charter Fair on Saturday 27th June.

Find me in the market place, with my sketchbooks and paints! I'll be launching my new Northleach print, plus I'll have my 2011 cotswold calendar available for sale (signed on request!) and a selection of recent original paintings and sketches.

Come and talk to the artist!!
Charter Fair Starts 12.00 noon.
http://northleachcommunity.blogspot.com/

Post Script: Great day had by all - glorious sunshine and lots of visitors. Well done to the organisers! We enjoyed ourselves too!

Read all about it in the Wilts & Glos:
http://www.wiltsglosstandard.co.uk/news


My new Northleach Print is available through my website:
www.fothergillsgallery.co.uk 

Summer's Morning in Northleach

Monday April 19th....

Summer's morning at Northleach - a watercolour painting by Chris Fothergill This is surely the finest view in Northleach, showing the southern aspect of the Church which its magnificent porch and windows. The setting from the top of the ‘Vicar’s Field’ with sheep grazing in the morning light add to the composition.

I have of course painted this view many times over the last 20 years, but this time we have the cool light of a Cotswold early summer’s morning.

The sky is making no promises for the day, so we enjoy the moment. I think I may make some limited edition prints of this painting. Watch this space for more news!