Bawden at the Fry Art Gallery

The private view yesterday was full of an enthusiastic local crowd. Edward Bawden is the poster boy of the Fry Art Gallery; something close to their raison d’etre. The Gallery always has plenty of his work on show and they busy themselves in the London art market from time to time snapping up work by their favourite artist which appears there. Not that they seem to have much in the way of funds: the Gallery is as near as one can get amongst places where serious modern art can be seen to a sort of enlarged shed.

If that sounds critical it is not intended as such. As readers will know, I adore Bawden’s watercolours, and also the pictures by many of the artists normally represented in this wonderful Gallery. The show they have on at the moment is more of the usual: a bewildering display of examples of Bawden’s many artistic talents. Why he isn’t presented nationally in the way that Piper is, I can’t imagine. He had talent for so many different artistic endeavours.

So well done to this tremendous Gallery; putting a show like this on in the conditions they have to work with is nothing short of a miracle. All London modern British art lovers should get out to Saffron Walden as soon as they can.