In 1979 he staged A Fascination of Flowers, an art exhibition of the work of Sir Cedric Morris, the Hadleigh artist from Benton End. I believe this to be the last major show staged during Cedric’s life and with his blessing. The show was organised with the Brett Valley Society for the Arts and introduced with a talk on horticulture and art by Beth Chatto.
I have a flyer from that show but no catalogue. Are any of your readers able to help me to locate a list of paintings please? I do have two handwritten lists of lenders, but which paintings were hung?
As part of the reopening of the venue, I have decided to stage art shows alongside concerts. We have become besieged by artists asking about our space. We will operate as a concert hall and a gallery: one week a classical piano recital, the next a commercial art sale. We aim to stage exhibitions for leading contemporary artists and up-and-coming talent.
We have an open day on September 12 as part of the nationwide Heritage Open Day scheme (see heritageopendays.co.uk).
Incidentally, when I was a child there were four antiques shops on Hadleigh High Street. One was an outpost for two dealers from the King’s Road, including Gordon Sutcliffe. Imagine peering through the leaded Tudor windows of Sun Court, to see Old Masters and heavy polished furniture…
Ian Grutchfield
Venue director, Hadleigh Old School (hadleigholdschool.co.uk)
