5 Brewer Street
Oxford
OX1 1QN
Collection Favourites
online exhibition walkthrough and guide
PMB | ART are please to present a collection display showcasing star pieces from the collection, alongside highlights and favourites selected by the curator, governing committee, JCR students, and the gallery invigilators. Delving into the collection, this display includes paintings, sculptures, photographs, prints and drawings. Explore the breadth of the collection from those bought during the first few years of its inception, to the student artworks which are loaned out to JCR members for their bedrooms.
We are also delighted to showcase the winners of the 2020 Pembroke JCR Art Prize. This is an annual competition run by the JCR Art Rep and open to all Pembroke students. We hope that this competition gives everyone the change to engage with artistic practices, no matter their subject of study. Along with the competition, the JCR Art Rep also runs a series of life drawing classes, alongside special arts events.
What is your Collection Favourite? Tell us via email or social media
jcr.artfund@pmb.ox.ac.uk | @pembrokejcrart | #collectionfavourites
Exhibition Introduction
The Curator selected works from across the collection to bring together into this display. Some were selected by the committee and student invigilators, with the Curator displaying the artwork in small groupings - some by theme or subject, some by media or colouring. Whilst the display is eclectic, sampling from both the main collection and the student loan collection, these groupings aim to give a sense of coherence to the display.
Exhibition Layout
The exhibition is on display in the Pembroke Art Gallery, which Pembroke College generously allows the Collection to be exhibited in. With track lighting, hanging system and environmental controls, the purpose built space allows us to display paintings, drawings, photographs, digital media and sculpture. We are always looking for ways to display our collection in interesting and engaging displays, and to improve the gallery space in order to keep our collection safe.
Exhibition Walkthrough
Our Curator has put together a short walkthrough of the exhibition. Shot on her iPhone, this allows a glimpse into the exhibition from the comfort of your own home. The captions for the works on display can be found further down this page, along with the extended captions written by the student committee, and a view of the Pembroke Student Art Prize Winners.
Our Collection Favourites
The students on the governing committee (current and from last year) and those who invigilate the space, as well as our Curator and History of Art Student Placements, have selected their favourite artworks and written short captions explaining why these works appeal to them. Not all of them could be included in the exhibition, but you can read about some additional works on our Blog.
Piper not only designed dramatic stained glass windows, but also theatre sets, as reflected in the dramatic staging and colours of this design. I am interested in the range of media Piper drew on and designed, including tapestries, fabrics and ceramics. As someone who approached art through textiles and design, I especially like the skill of bringing stained glass into the modern movement and the ability to play with medium.
Lily Westcott, JCR Art Fund Trustee (far left artwork)
My favourite piece in the collection is the Portrait of Edward Wadsworth by Percy Wyndham Lewis. As an English student, I chose this piece because of a lecture I attended last year on the Vorticist movement and the early 20th century literary magazine, BLAST. Realising that our JCR Art Collection had a work by Wyndham Lewis - who founded the magazine - I felt very lucky to be involved in such an amazing collection. In particular, I am fond of the use of charcoal and the muted, monochromatic tones, which give the portrait a very intimate feel.
Lola Gabellini-Fava, JCR Art Fund Trustee
I really enjoy studying Prunella Clough’s Fishermen with Sprats – there is always something to discover when looking at it. I am intrigued by Clough’s style of painting, which is slightly sculptural. I find Clough’s artistic practice particularly interesting as she often sketched using words and shapes rather than representational drawing. The entries for this painting in Clough’s sketchbook reads as follows:
Sprats
Fish on tarp on floor in net dark. In nets irreg, being picked & shaken out, flying up in front of men. Net ochre and trans, in all shaken folds being piled onto wet carrier, corks and [sketch] on far side, cords dark.
Near fig: cap down, to eyebrows, bluish coat, twist of oilskin from side, hands dark, holding shaking; standing over wood obj, oilsk down to boots.
Far fig: Holding sorting cork edge, in battle dress, leather on R shoulder, less shaking
Gen: Water at shoulder level sea up thru head, hor just above head.
Generally bluish and sand, sea glitter on fish
Tatjana LeBoff, JCR Art Collection Curator
(far left artwork)
I find it remarkable that we are lucky enough to home the Portrait of Govette by David Tindle. While many of Tindle’s artworks can be found in the Tate, the Redfern Gallery and the Royal Academy, we only need to wander into our very own Pembroke gallery to admire this piece. It caught my eye as a moving depiction of a woman, with a nostalgic and very human feel. Having learnt about his life, it was interesting to consider the influence of those such as Lucian Freud, whose interest in the relationship between the artist and his model is important in his work. To me, the Portrait of Govette feels personal and almost eerie - a very poignant depiction of her
state of mind and emotions.
Cansu Uyguroglu, JCR Art Fund Co-Chair
I enjoyed the minimalism of this set of photos. The silver of the centralised lamb, chicken and fence, that could easily be found in a rural scene, are brilliantly emphasised by the darkness of their settings. One could assume that the backdrop might well consume the items of interest in a homogenising blackness, but instead it acts to draw out their detail; bringing the simplicity of the animals and the isolated country fence to the fore, as they exist within the mundane, unaffected by worldly contingency. It is this simplicity that evokes calm; the familiarity of the scene can only be reassuring.
Lucien Whitworth, JCR Art Fund Co-Chair
Tristram Hillier’s elegant rendering of the Andalusian city of Mijas captures the beauty and serenity of the Spanish coast with typical modernist clarity. His use of contrast and shadows invites us to imagine strolling through the city on sunny afternoon but stops short of imposing too many details on the viewer. This balance makes the painting, like Hillier’s others of Mijas, at once nuanced and accessible.
Maggie Wang, JCR Art Fund Treasurer
My favourite piece is Rima’s Music by Tom Phillips. I particularly like the blend of colours in this piece; the somewhat muted green background is perfect with the vibrancy of the reds, blues and yellows. As a collage, I feel like you notice something different every time you look. There’s also something about the deliberate imperfectness that I’m particularly fond of - the horizontal lines are not completely straight, but straight enough to know that it is supposed to be a straight line… I think this is quite a cheerful piece and can remember the first time I saw it in person to be surprised by the size of this piece - it’s so much smaller than you think it would be, yet it is packed with so much detail.
Qianhui Yang, former JCR Art Fund Trustee
(middle left artwork)
I really like this artwork entitled The Window because of its use of different simple shapes and careful use of warm colours to stand out against the dark blue shades. The whole image - especially the juxtaposition of the tower, tree, and sphere - reminds me of something out of a surreal fantasy world.
Lauren Evans, Student Gallery Invigilator
(middle right artwork)
My favourite piece from the collection is Private Houses, no.4. This oil painting by Tim Braden is a remarkably simple piece. The foreground is dominated by an expansive grassy hill drawing the eye to an imposing, angular building perched atop. Murky forestry withdraws at the crest to reveal the blockish Private Home. A mellow palette is easy on the eye – seemingly framed by deeper border tones to accentuate the central luminescence. There is a suggestiveness to the placement of the Private Home, its true scale or design relatively obscured. The viewer is invite to consider the choice of situation, the shadows across the structure and the privacy in isolation of this home.
Harry Deacon, former JCR Art Fund Trustee
(bottom artwork)
Bridge from Cannon Street is one of my favourite pieces from the JCR Collection. The industrial symbols of London signify the capital’s infrastructure, abstracted and exaggerated so as to almost overwhelm the cityscape — the buildings are teetering over the banks of the Thames. However, these monoliths are infused with energy and dynamism, given the Fauve-esque approach to non-naturalistic colour. Minton projects London as a vibrant powerhouse of economic output, at the centre of the world: much in the same way London sought to project its power across the Empire (beginning to crumble in 1946, with India to declare independence the year after). The UK economy was powered by its ships, naval warfare and trading routes across the globe, the consequences of which are unacknowledged by this piece as well as our current society.
Ariff Castronovo, JCR President and JCR Art Fund Trustee
(left artwork)
Angela Palmer’s Head offers interesting questions about the ‘self’ and space - her method using two-dimensional brain scans to form a three-dimensional head reminds us that our experience of space is constructed and can be manipulated. Palmer’s work shows an intersection between science and art that is not often considered particularly in the modern education system that increasingly emphasises STEM. Head reassures me that the science and art can be and should be reconciled to offer new and exciting questions about ourselves and the world around us.
Ailsa Clark, History of Art Placement
(this artwork is currently on display in the gallery foyer, this video is from a previous exhibition, but shows off the artwork at its best)
This piece is bold and immediately catches my eye. The colour red dominates the artwork and the powerful brush strokes creates a sense of power and strength. The single red rectangle is an interesting touch.
Megan Knock, former JCR Art Fund Trustee
Student Prize Winners
Each year the Pembroke JCR Art Rep runs an Art Competition for the Pembroke College undergraduate students. Any artform is allowed to be entered, and a small stipend is available for materials and framing. There is a small cash prize for first, second and third place. This year we chose to display them in the gallery alongside works from our collection.
What's Your Collection Favourite?
What is your Collection Favourite? Tell us via email or social media
jcr.artfund@pmb.ox.ac.uk | @pembrokejcrart | #collectionfavourites
Artwork Captions
Pembroke JCR Student Art Prize Winners
1st prize winner
Lucy Matsagoura
Untitled, 2020
Watercolour on paper
2nd prize winner
Lauren Evans
Untitled, 2020
Embroidery on fabric
3rd prize winner
Thomas Lambert
Water World, 2020
Oil on canvas
Benjamin Crème
Woman at Dressing Table, 1949
Oil on canvas
Percy Wyndham Lewis*
Portrait of Edward Wadsworth, 1920
Chalk and wash on paper
John Piper*
Design for Stained Glass Windows at Llandaff, date unknown
Watercolour and ink on paper
John Bratby
Notre dame Cathedral (and Gladioli from Hotel Lancaster Paris), c.1977
Graphite on paper
John Piper
Churchyard, 1954
Watercolour gouache on paper
Prunella Clough*
Fishermen with Sprats¸1948
Oil on canvas
Elisabeth Frink
Birdman, c.1966
Bronze
Duncan Grant
Still Life, 1954
Oil on canvas
Julian Trevelyan
Russian Village, 1961
Oil on board
Mary Fedden
Girls in Provence, 1961
Oil on canvas
David Tindle*
Portrait of Govette, 1955
Oil on canvas
Cecil Collins
Listening Bird, 1946
Tempera on paper
Patrick Heron
December 30:82:11, 1982
Gouche on paper
Tristram Hillier*
Mijas, 1950
Acrylic on canvas
Ceri Richards
The Force That Through the Green Fuse Drives the Flower from Twelve Lithographs for Six Poems by Dylan Thomas, 1945
Lithograph on paper
Graham Clarke
Morning Scholar, date unknown
Print on paper
S. Simmons
Porters and Barrows, date unknown
Oil on board
Chris Orr
The Silent Alphabet, 1990
Pen, ink and watercolour on paper
Rowland Jarvis
Fighting Bulls, 1954
Etching on paper
Duncan Grant
Hawk, 1948
Lithograph on paper
Jo Ham*
Lamb, 2004
Fence, 2004
Chicken¸ 2004
Photographs
Michael Tilley
Three character drawings for clay models,
date unknown
Charcoal on paper
Holly Gosnell
Untitled, 2004
Photographic collage
C. Davies
Empire, 2004
Photograph
Dominey Jowers
Untitled, 2001
Photograph
Donald Friend
Studio in Florence, 1952
Ink and crayon on paper
Dolf Reiser
Mythological Shades, date unknown
Lithograph on paper
Jeremy Gentilli
Eclipse, 2011
Tapestry
Derrick Greaves
Datura, 1967
Acrylic on canvas
Tom Phillips*
Rima’s Music, Rima’s Series V, 2005
Comic book collage on paper
Dolf Reiser
Tribesmen with Shields, date unknown
Lithograph on paper
Tim Braden*
Private Houses, no. 4, 1998
Oil on board
Michael Tilley*
The Window, date unknown
Pastel and paper collage on board
Lynn Chadwick
Bullfrog, 1951
Bronze and iron, original maquette for subsequent edition of nine bronzes
John Minton*
Bridge from Cannon St. Station, 1946
Oil on canvas
John Minton
Thameside, 1946
Lithograph on paper
Peter Nuttall
Mother and Child, 1967
Ink and watercolour on paper
Michael Ayrton
Brother and Sister, 1949
Oil on board
Barbara Delaney*
Red River Ever Moving, 1994
Acrylic on canvas
Angela Palmer*
Head, 2004
Glass sculpture in acrylic case
If you have any questions about the collection please do email us. We hope to be able to reopen the gallery to the public in 2021.