Paper and Pen

Timothy Betjeman Press Release, www.timothybetjeman.com

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“The chapel was the centre of my life-

The only place where I could be alone.”

John Betjeman, Summoned by Bells, 1960

Timothy Betjeman’s forthcoming exhibition is, like the quoted poem by his grandfather Sir John Betjeman, largely focused on the chapel at Marlborough College. Despite having not had the time to get to know each other well, Timothy has found a similar natural affinity with the place and this exhibition, which runs from 10-25^th June, marks the end of his year as artist in residence at the school.

The show will feature works completed in the chapel itself as well as plein-air paintings from in and around the college town. Painting in the chapel two to three days a week has allowed Betjeman to show the various guises of the historic building: quiet and shy at daybreak; well-lit and welcoming at dusk. The result is a study in light and in liturgy; the chapel as a meeting space, a place of worship and as part of a busy school. There are close ups of the altar, the vaulted ceiling and the stained glass windows, all rendered in a combination of dense impasto and light, gestural work. The subtle scratches to some surfaces, which reveal startling ornamental detail, juxtapose the broad atmospheric colour pairings.

Betjeman himself is no stranger to plein-air painting, a style he perfected whilst at the Royal Drawing School in Shoreditch. Having exhibited both at home and internationally, this Marlborough exhibition perfectly follows last summer spent in the studio at Monet’s former house at Giverny, as part of the Terra Foundation Fellowship. Giverny aside, ‘Timothy Betjeman at Marlborough’ is wonderfully reminiscent of Monet’s series at Rouen Cathedral, employing the traditional tools of impressionism with arrestingly modern results.

Sheerluxe, August 2016