Reserved

Stanley Lewis (1905 - 2009)

Canvas protective pack, probably for a high frequency radio receiver, circa 1942

SKU: 7715
Inscribed with notes
Pencil and blue pencil
9 x 6 in. (22.8 x 15.2 cm)
Presentation:
folio

Size:
Height – 22.8cm x Width – 15.2cm

DESCRIPTION

Provenance:
The Artist’s Estate; Private Collection

Literature: The Unknown Artist: Stanley Lewis and his contemporaries, Cecil Higgins Art Gallery & Bedford Museum, 12th June – 5th September 2010, Liss Fine Art, 2010.

 

In spite of not being an Official War Artist Stanley was commissioned to produce three major paintings during World War Two: Wartime Newport, The Home Front, 1940-1941  Morning Maintenance on a Searchlight Site, 1943 (whereabouts unknown) and The Attack on the Tirpitz by the Fleet Air Arm, 1944.


I enjoyed the war: plenty of exercise, moving from camp to camp. It gave me the opportunity to paint. It kept me going. I remember when I joined I was always sketching – ‚Äúyou better give that stuff up until the war is over‚Äù, one of my comrades told me: ‚Äúdon’t be so bloody silly‚Äù, I said., ‚ÄúI am an artist.‚Äù When the War broke out I went on teaching the students. But they all began to disappear. They all went to the forces. It was only the lame and the blind that were left. I didn’t know what to do. About a year after the war started Harrison the Principal sent for me. He was sorting out all the A1 men to go into the forces. It was my turn’. After training at Kemmel Park in Prestatyn, North Wales, in the Royal Artillery as a Gunner, and later serving as a Battery Clerk for the 9th Ac Ac Regiment at Ranby, Stanley was posted to the 66th Searchlight Regiment (Gloucesters) in Somerset.Asked if he would have liked to have been an official war artist Stanley replied: yes, but the fact that I was unofficial left me free to do and paint what I chose; and I’ll tell you what – many of those Official War Artists were not amongst it ‚Äì I was a soldier; I was right in the middle of it. 

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THE ARTIST

Stanley Lewis
Stanley
Lewis
1905 - 2009

Stanley Lewis (1905-2009) was reluctant to sell his art during his life-time. He kept all his major works. He later gave some to museums. He turned down offers from galleries, preferring to work without constraints, choosing to earn a much needed regular income through teaching (over 10 years at Newport School of Art and 22 years as Principal of Carmarthen School of Art). Stanley’s art has period charm. It occupies a backwater (rather than the mainstream) of British Art – this is the unmapped territory that art historians will increasingly look at as accounts of 20th Century British Art are revised. His work is highly distinctive and he remained faithful throughout his life to a graphic and stylised manner developed early on in his career. Perhaps the most enduring aspect of his legacy is the remarkable cycle of paintings exhibited at the Royal Academy celebrating Welsh subjects: The Welsh Dress, The Welsh Mole Catcher, The Welsh Farmer, and The Welsh Dresser. There is arguably no other series of genre paintings in British Art which capture so evocatively Welsh identity. Stanley also strongly identified with the land: on the one hand his calling to art was a vocation; on the other his approach was disarmingly unpretentious: ‘I must admit instinct has kept me on the straight-and-narrow path to carry on working my art into what I am: I am a farmer’s son and I have never craved to be in any one else’s shoes.’ Stanley produced little in the way of major paintings during the last decades of the 20th century, though he did continue to draw, (often reworking earlier drawings), and increasingly put his energy into producing and publishing his book illustrations. In his 101st year, in 2006, Stanley published a last edition of drawings under the title: Adventures in Animal Town, using computer software (Photoshop) to add colour to the remarkable images which half a decade earlier, in black and white, had graced the pages of the South Wales Evening Post. (Fig. 2) Stanley first contacted Liss Fine Art (by email!), aged 101, wanting to know what had happened to his former mentors Thomas Monnington and A.K. Lawrence. Stanley’s career spanned a large part of the 20th century. Yet the fruit of his labour was never publicly exhibited. This is the first ever exhibition of his work. Stanley put his longevity down to cigars, whisky and Michelangelo. He took great pleasure in helping prepare the notes in this catalogue. Recalling events from between 50 and 90 years ago it is remarkable how accurate his memory proved to be. It is sad that Stanley is not alive to see this exhibition. Asked, age 103, if he was finally ready for his first ever show, or whether he would like a little more time to prepare, he inhaled gently on his cigar and, with a puff of smoke and a faint chuckle, said: ‘I think I am ready’. The day before he died he asked Jenni his daughter to type up his final wishes: ‘… And when my exhibition is up and running, open a good bottle of champagne and celebrate and think of me. No doubt I will be there in spirit to keep an eye on things.

Lewis was born in Cardiff. He attended Newport College of Art, 1923-6, and the Royal College of Art, 1926-30, teaching at Newport College in the 193os. After war service he became
principal of Carmarthen School of Art for 22 years from 1946, then retired and with his wife founded the Pram and Toy Museum at Beckington, Somerset. He illustrated newspaper articles by his wife Min Lewis and her book Laugharne and Dylan Thomas, in 1967, and had one-man shows at various Laugharne Festivals. Showed for many years with Gwent
Art Society, SWG and elsewhere and with Michael Ayrton and Enzo Plazzotta shared a three-man show at Bruton Gallery, Somerset. Newport Museum and Art Gallery holds his work. Lewis’ show War Images there in 2003 was based on a large unfinished World War II painting and preparatory draw¬ings which the artist donated to the collection.   His first retrospective, organised by Liss Llewellyn Fine Art in 2010, took place at Cecil Higgins Art Gallery & Bedford Museum.

MORE PICTURES BY ARTIST

Reserved
SKU: 9548

Stanley Lewis (1905 - 2009)

Stop Howling
Reserved
SKU: 9516

Stanley Lewis (1905 - 2009)

Whiches on broomsticks over a village
Reserved
SKU: 9515

Stanley Lewis (1905 - 2009)

Characters From Under MilkWood, circa 1955
SKU: 9510

Stanley Lewis (1905 - 2009)

The Cat and the Pigeon

£600.00

SKU: 9504

Stanley Lewis (1905 - 2009)

Narrator, Rosie Probert, Captain Cat

£900.00

Reserved
SKU: 8780

Stanley Lewis (1905 - 2009)

Forging the wheel
Reserved
SKU: 8781

Stanley Lewis (1905 - 2009)

Mother and child with baby
Reserved
SKU: 8782

Stanley Lewis (1905 - 2009)

A Great Hare
Reserved
SKU: 8783

Stanley Lewis (1905 - 2009)

Chicken, dog, fence and kennel at Llwyn-On, Croesyceiliog
Reserved
SKU: 8775

Stanley Lewis (1905 - 2009)

Watering the allotment – circa 1925
Reserved
SKU: 8776

Stanley Lewis (1905 - 2009)

Farmer leaning on a fence tending his pigs, circa 1925
Reserved
SKU: 8779

Stanley Lewis (1905 - 2009)

Domestic Bliss: Stanley and Min in the garden at 14 Dales Road Newport, 1939
Reserved
SKU: 8774

Stanley Lewis (1905 - 2009)

View from WW2 billet, Great Burstead,1944
Reserved
SKU: 8770

Stanley Lewis (1905 - 2009)

An early study for Hyde Park, late 1920’s
Reserved
SKU: 8771

Stanley Lewis (1905 - 2009)

Men cutting a limb from a tree, in the garden at Llwyn-On, Croesyceiliog, mid 1920’s
SKU: 8773

Stanley Lewis (1905 - 2009)

French nude, study

£425.00

SKU: 8765

Stanley Lewis (1905 - 2009)

The snow laden garden at Llwyn-On, Croesyceiliog, circa 1935

£800.00

Reserved
SKU: 8766

Stanley Lewis (1905 - 2009)

At the circus
SKU: 8767

Stanley Lewis (1905 - 2009)

Study for Hyde Park, circa 1931, the artists coat and hat

£875.00

SKU: 8768

Stanley Lewis (1905 - 2009)

Study for Hyde Park, circa 1930

£625.00

Reserved
SKU: 8769

Stanley Lewis (1905 - 2009)

London street scene: figures waiting, circa 1925
SKU: 8760

Stanley Lewis (1905 - 2009)

Study for Hyde Park, circa 1930, seated man seated extreme right

£850.00

SKU: 8761

Stanley Lewis (1905 - 2009)

Study of Hyde Park, circa 1931

£425.00

Reserved
SKU: 8762

Stanley Lewis (1905 - 2009)

Terraced houses, Carmarthen
SKU: 8764

Stanley Lewis (1905 - 2009)

Portrait study of Edith, circa 1932

£1,400.00

Reserved
SKU: 8757

Stanley Lewis (1905 - 2009)

Farmer leaning on a fence tending pigs, circa 1925
Reserved
SKU: 8758

Stanley Lewis (1905 - 2009)

The Fat Cat
Reserved
SKU: 8752

Stanley Lewis (1905 - 2009)

Searchlights
Reserved
SKU: 7716

Stanley Lewis (1905 - 2009)

High frequency radio receivers.,study for The Searchlight, circa 1942
Reserved
SKU: 7715

Stanley Lewis (1905 - 2009)

Canvas protective pack, probably for a high frequency radio receiver, circa 1942
SKU: 7572

Stanley Lewis (1905 - 2009)

In the back yard, mending a puncture, late 1920’s

£1,100.00

SKU: 7574

Stanley Lewis (1905 - 2009)

Study for Hyde Park in Summer – the artist’s sister Margaret with a bicycle , 1931

£275.00

Reserved
SKU: 7576

Stanley Lewis (1905 - 2009)

Man pushing a bicycle, 1920’s
Reserved
SKU: 7570

Stanley Lewis (1905 - 2009)

Illustration for Under Milk Wood, 1950’s
Reserved
SKU: 7130

Stanley Lewis (1905 - 2009)

Toy Town, illustration 21; Standing to attention
Reserved
SKU: 7119

Stanley Lewis (1905 - 2009)

Toy Town, illustration 18, circa 1950
Reserved
SKU: 7120

Stanley Lewis (1905 - 2009)

Adventures in Animal Town, illustration 11, circa 1950
Reserved
SKU: 7117

Stanley Lewis (1905 - 2009)

Toy Town, illustration 20
Reserved
SKU: 7105

Stanley Lewis (1905 - 2009)

Adventures in Animal Town, illustration 17
Reserved
SKU: 7106

Stanley Lewis (1905 - 2009)

Toy Town, illustration 24; The goat who could see into the future……
SKU: 4408

Stanley Lewis (1905 - 2009)

The Merry Go Round, Newport, circa 1925

£850.00

SKU: 4384

Stanley Lewis (1905 - 2009)

Analytical Sketch of Piero della Francesca’s “Nativity”, early 1920’s

£450.00

SKU: 4385

Stanley Lewis (1905 - 2009)

Small Study of Paint Brushes, 1960

£580.00

SKU: 4333

Stanley Lewis (1905 - 2009)

Eyes to the Right, Eyes to the Left, early 1940’s

£780.00

SKU: 4327

Stanley Lewis (1905 - 2009)

Study for Hyde Park, Figures (2), 1931

£480.00

SKU: 4097

Stanley Lewis (1905 - 2009)

The Life Class, Newport School of Art, c.1935

£660.00

SKU: 4079

Stanley Lewis (1905 - 2009)

Study for Hyde Park, The Artist’s Mother seated, sewing

£675.00

Reserved
SKU: 4040

Stanley Lewis (1905 - 2009)

Goat’s New Beard