This coming October, 4th-11th each day from 10:00am- 4:30pm, is an exhibition at Aberford Interiors featuring the paintings by the internationally acknowledged artist Anthony Christian. He and his wife Marian, enjoy a quiet and thoughtful existence in the grand old Gardens House, just up the hill from the site of the old hall. However, today’s produce is oil on canvas whereas in days gone by the Gardens house was renowned for the production of fresh produce for the Gascoigne table. Residing in such surroundings is a great nutrient to the creative juices and we are pleased to see his work on local landscapes being presented at an exhibition in the village. Of course Aberford has often been the subject of artistic endeavours the Almshouses once being used by local artist, Heather Walker. The windmill long since demolished on the hill above the road to Lotherton, was often the subject of artists, and the main street with the bridge over the Cock Beck has drawn the eye of amateur painters over the decades.
The collection largely features scenes familiar to those who walk through the pathways of the old Parlington Estate and of course the famous Triumphal Arch is to be found on three of the paintings, but there are two taken from the Barwick road before it winds down the hill past the former lodge house and over the Cock Beck at the Ass Bridge. One of these is featured above, at sunset. The road leading to Barwick in Elmet from Aberford, is an area that has again caught the eye of earlier creatives, I have an excellent early postcard by Parkinson and Roy (A Leeds Photographic Studio in the pre First World War) which shows the road resplendently, lined with huge beech trees, sadly cut down in more recent times, for safety reasons… hmm!
The collection will be revealed in full on the main history site, there are currently three different views on the home page. [Update] The pictures section [7] on the main site now has ten pages with all the paintings and descriptions of the historical connections of the locations.
[Update 2/10/2009]
An article in the Yorkshire Post Culture magazine today [2 October 2009] sets out briefly som of the history of Anthony Christian’s career, a profile of the artist at home is to be published in the Yorkshire Post Magazine on Saturday October 10th. Below is a picture of the article.
