Estelle Lovatt visits the New English Art Club Annual Exhibition
/ New English Art Club
Artist, art critic and Mall Galleries' Art Expert in Residence, Estelle Lovatt FRSA, shares her thoughts on the New English Art Club Annual Exhibition 2019.
For me, the summer art calendar in London is all about the Royal Academy’s Summer Exhibition, the National Portrait Gallery’s BP Portrait Award, and the New English Art Club (NEAC) at Mall Galleries. Thus, it was my absolute pleasure to be Mall Galleries Art Expert in Residence, at the 2019 NEAC Annual Exhibition.
From its history, the NEAC was founded in London in 1885, as an alternative platform to the RA, exhibiting art by both members and artists from Britain and abroad, whose work has been selected from an annual open submission.
To the left and right of me, I see exceptionally imaginative works of art in different styles and diverse media; distinctive, strong, dynamic and unconstrained. “Composition Is King” and this comes through the skills of confident drawing, glorious colour theory, believable perspective, informative tone, texture with personality, and other aesthetically pleasing essentials, that must feature in the artist’s practice.
During my NEAC residency session, it was my great pleasure to engage in very interesting art conversations with the gallery-goers. I felt enriched talking to visitors about all things art: from what the benefits might be for today’s artists using social media platforms to how they can technically capture as much gusto and oomph as possible in their artwork whatever the subject matter, be it a landscape, still life, portrait or playful pet. It was just wonderful to hear people chatting about the art to each other, exclaiming in front of their favourites, “That’s good, isn’t it!... I love this one!... Fantastic….I really like this style of painting….I could definitely live with this one….”
I had a lovely day. Time well spent. Seeing art of such a high standard always makes me feel totally absorbed; it’s like oxygen for my eyes. Thank you NEAC exhibiting artists.
The New English Art Club Annual Exhibition is available to browse and buy online.