26th July 2023
Swindon Art in the Inter-war Years
As seen through the work of Leslie Cole (1910-1976) and Hubert Cook (1901-1966) – Philip Garrahan
In the 1920s and 1930s GWR employees somehow found the time and support to develop their artistic skills, whether in lithography, drawing or painting.
Leslie Cole and Hubert Cook are two examples of what might be a wider flourishing of the arts in Swindon in the inter-war years. Using illustrations of their work, some of which have been rarely exhibited, the focus is both on their personal development as artists and the contours of life in industrial Swindon.
Philip Garrahan is an academic with experience of teaching in and managing universities in the North East and Yorkshire. He’s used his time since retirement to re-train as an art historian. He’s lived in Shrivenham for the past eight years and has researched and written about art in Swindon’s industrial past and post-industrial present. His interest is in the interface between the individual experience of making and seeing art and the contrasting meanings attached to art by different audiences.
About Leslie Cole: 1910 – 1976
From the Art UK website:
A painter and teacher, Cole studied at Swindon school of art with Harold Dearden between 1927 and 1932. Then he went to Birmingham college of art (1932-3) with Harold Holden. From there to the Royal College of art (1934-37) with Malcolm Osborne and Ernest Tristram.
Exhibited RA, RP and widely abroad. Cole was a notable war artist, working for the Ministry of Information in Malta, then for the Admiralty and War Office. For some time he taught at the Central School of Arts and Crafts.
Imperial War Museum and Ferens Art Gallery, Hull, hold his work, which is reproduced widely in anthologies of pictures by war artists. In 1985–6 the War Museum staged an exhibition of Cole’s World War II pictures called To the Front Line. Lived in London.
Cole, Leslie; Boy with a Bird; Swindon Art Gallery; http://www.artuk.org/artworks/boy-with-a-bird-64543
See also: http://arts.brighton.ac.uk/alumni-arts/cole,-leslie-1910-1976
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About Hubert Cook: 1901-1966
From Art UK –https://artuk.org/discover/artists/cook-hubert-19011966
Painter, printmaker and teacher, born in Wroughton, Wiltshire. He studied with Harold Dearden at Swindon School of Art, 1926–34, then at the Central School of Arts and Crafts, 1935–38, with Noel Rooke and Percy Hague Jowett.
Also taught at Portsmouth Technical College. Exhibited RA, UA, RWA, Senefelder Club, Leicester Galleries and overseas. Swindon Museum and Art Gallery is among several holding his work. Lived in Swindon.
Cook, Hubert; The Toilers – www.artuk.org/artworks/the-toilers-64552
For information on our other talks go here: https://friendsofmas.org/events/categories/talks/
Date/Time
Date(s) - 26/07/2023
7:30 pm - 9:00 pm
Categories
