Farms and Fields:
The Working Landscape from 1910 to The Present Day
This exhibition takes its title from a book published in 1944 by the National Federation of Young Farmers Clubs as part of the Story of the Countryside. This reflected the mood of the war-time attachment to the countryside and was illustrated by Thomas Hennell. Hay-Making was used as an illustration in the book.
The exhibition spans just over a century of work beginning with the powerful rural imagery of Harry Becker, unsentimentally celebrating the human labour of Suffolk’s agricultural economy. Thomas Hennell working in the 1930s / 40s documented a changing scene, with the arrival of widespread mechanisation, he attempted to record traditional practices before they disappeared from the countryside.
Work from the post war years including an interesting group of bean field images by Peggy Somerville, Bernard Cheese and Liam Hanley.
Finally we are delighted to include sculptures by two contemporary artists based at Butley Mill Studios, Deborah Thompson and Victoria Hussain.
If you would like a price list, images and further information about the individual artists please do email us.
Above: Thomas Barclay Hennell RWA (1903-1945) Hay-making, 1940s. Ink on paper. H:50.5 X W:65cms. This work is the illustration used in ‘Farms and Fields’. A copy of the book is also included in the purchase!
Below: Thomas Barclay Hennell RWA (1903-1945) Gathering the Harvest, 1940s. Ink on paper. H:43 x W:64.5cms.
Above:Thomas Barclay Hennell RWA NEAC (1903-1945) A Hedger at Work, c.1940s. Ink on paper.H:47.5 x W:56cms. Below: Thomas Barclay Hennell RWA NEAC (1903-1945) A Farmworker using a Seed Barrow, c.1930s. Pencil on paper. H:44 x 54.5cms.
Above:Harry Becker (1865-1928) Noon in Harvest Field, c.1926. Watercolour and pencil on paper. H:46 x W:57cms. Below:Harry Becker (1865-1928) Farm Workers seeking Shade, c.1908. Lithograph on paper (Signed in pencil).H:57 x W:75cms.
Above: Harry Becker (1865-1928)Man and Woman Lifting Potatoes in a Field, 1908. Lithograph on paper.H:57 x W:73.5cms. And Above: Victoria Hussain The Gleaners, 2024.Lost wax process. Bronze cast.Edition No. 2/6. Below:Harry Becker (1865-1928) Plough Team in Heavy Soil, c.1920s.Etching on paper. H:36 x W:57cms.
Above: Harry Becker 1865-1928 Sheep Dipping, 1905. Lithograph on paper. H:50 x W:62cms. Below: Harry Becker (1865-1928) Turning Homeward, c.1920. Etching on paper.H:48 x W:62.5cms.
Above: Harry Becker (1865-1928)Toilers of the Field – Women in Wartime, 1914.Etching on paper. H:35 x W:50cms.
Rowland Suddaby (1912-1972) Mill Farm, Wissington, Essex, c.1950. Ink and watercolour on paper.H:61 x 74cms.
Above:Michael Rothenstein RA (1908-1993) The Wheel takes over (red wheels), 1968. Coloured woodcut, etched linocut and photorelief on paper. Edition Number 3/25. H:73 x W:97 cms.
Above: Henry Collins 1910-1994 Agrarian Landscape, 1960s. Screenprint on paper.H:61 x W:77cms. SOLD.Below: Bernard Cheese (1925-2013)Field of Beans, 1963. Lithograph on paper.Edition Number 17/25. H:75 x W:89cms.
Above:Liam Hanley (1933-2019) Bean Field, 1983. Watercolour on paper. H:70.5 x W:82cms. Below:Michael Chase (1915-2001) Suffolk Hedgerow – Chelsworth Meadow, 1981. Watercolour on paper. H:57 x W:65cms.
Above:Margaret Scott ‘Peggy’ Somerville (1918-1975) Waspe’s Farm, Threshing Beans, 1932. Oil on paper laid on board. H:40.5 x W:48cms. Below:Ethelbert White (1891-1972) Gathering Hay, c.1930s. Watercolour on paper. H:46 x W:56cms.
Above:Mary Newcomb (1922-2008) The Fields are Striped from Rolling, c.1970s. Crayon and pencil on paper. H:61 x W:77cms. Below: Peter Campbell (1931-1989) Hedging, 1970s. Acrylic on card. H:66.5 x W:58cms. SOLD.
Above:John Scorror O’Connor RWS 1913-2004 Paddock at Frederick’s Mount, 1960s. Oil on canvas.
Deborah Thompson (1949-)Joie de Vivre, 2023/4. Bronze. Lost Wax Process. Edition No.3 of 5.
Cecil Howard Lay FRIBA (1885-1956) A Suffolk Stile, c.1930s. Pastel on paper.H:49.5 x W:39 cms. SOLD.