Alumnus Sam Shaw Curates New Exhibition

Posted on 9 January 2015

'From Bradford to Benares', dedicated to Bradford-born artist Sir William Rothenstein, opens at the Cartwright Hall Gallery in Bradford this spring

William Rothenstein 'The Browning Readers' (1900) Bradford Museums and Galleries

"Sir William Rothenstein (1872-1945), was one of the leading figures of the late nineteenth and early twentieth-century British art ‌‌world. This is the first major exhibition of William Rothenstein’s work held since 1972, and brings together an especially wide range of art, from sketches he made in Paris in the early 1890s, to portraits of RAF pilots in the Second World War.

Though built around paintings in public collections, the exhibition will also feature examples from private collections, some of which have not been exhibited for almost a hundred years. Particular attention will be paid to a series of important cultural encounters that changed the direction of the artist’s life and work. These include his Parisian training; turn-of-the-century visits to Spain and Germany; years spent painting in the Jewish East End; his 1910 visit to India; interwar years living in rural Gloucestershire; experiences as a war artist in two World Wars; and his ongoing, sometimes fraught relationship with his home city, Bradford.

Although Rothenstein's life ‘beyond the easel’ will be mentioned (including his roles as critic, collector, patron, gallery-founder and teacher), the main aim of the exhibition is to put the spotlight on his achievements as a painter, draughtsman and print-maker.

My work on the exhibition is based partly on doctoral research I completed at the University of York from 2007-2010, and is part of ongoing project dedicated to exploring the art and identity of this fascinating artist."

Many congratulations to Sam on the opening of this important exhibition!

From Bradford to Benares opens on Saturday March 8th and runs until Sunday July 12th 2015. A free symposium, exploring Rothenstein’s relationship with wider cultural trends of the period, will be held on March 14th, and is open to the public.

Image courtesy of Bradford Museums and Galleries