A NEW exhibition opens this weekend in Brighouse featuring a retrospective of work by local artist Neville Fleetwood who died late last year.
Fleetwood was particularly well-known for his vivid still life paintings and landscapes which are full of atmosphere.
Over the years he emerged as an important name in British Art and his contemporary paintings created an impressive following.
He has exhibited at major London galleries and won many major art awards.
Fleetwood was an elected associate member of The Royal Institute of Oil Painters in 1998 and became a full member in 2001.
Based in Brighouse he forged an enviable reputation for his artwork throughout the country, and today his paintings are in collections worldwide.
The Harrison Lord Gallery in Brighouse is holding a retrospective exhibition of Fleetwood’s art, opening on Saturday, March 26, which will showcase more than 40 previously unseen artworks.
Steven Lord, gallery owner said: “I knew Neville for many years and his art was always of an amazingly high standard.
"Although Brighouse based, he was represented by many top London galleries. A down-to-earth Yorkshire man, he was delighted to sell his work locally after years of success down South. I am delighted to host this show which lets us celebrate this great artist’s work.”
Born in 1932, Fleetwood was originally a sign writer. He retired in 1983 so that he could devote himself to full-time painting.
He mostly worked from memory and the local landscape was a source of inspiration, particularly the Yorkshire fields at harvest time. His paintings are not precise depictions of a particular scene or landscape – “painting from life doesn't work for me," he once said, citing the Impressionists as an influence.
Fleetwood said of his inspiration as an artist: "I prefer the summer landscape, meadows of poppies, white cottages and golden cornfields. I like the richness of colour. I sometimes work and re-work a painting, sometimes I leave a painting for two or three weeks then go back and start again.
"The secret is deciding when a painting is finished. It is pleasing when someone buys one of my paintings – after all I paint for people to see my work."
The show, which is free to enter opens on Saturday, March 26, and runs for four weeks at the Harrison Lord Gallery, Bradford Road, Brighouse.
For more information visit harrisonlord.co.uk or call 01484 722462.
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