- Jean Rees
Jean Rees (1914-2004) was a British
artist .She dedicated the later part of her life to promoting the visual arts in the West of England. A highly accomplished landscape artist in her own right, exhibited at the
Royal West of England Academy (RWA), theRoyal Academy of Arts , TheRoyal Institute of Painters in Water Colour , theMedici Gallery ,Penwith Gallery ,Newlyn Gallery and many others, she is noted for her distinctive, abstractive approach to colour, light and form inspired by the landscapes of theMediterranean and the western counties ofCornwall ,Devon andSomerset .Jean Rees (née Jean Lamb) commenced her career by obtaining a National Diploma in Textile Design from the
Hastings School of Art ,Hastings , East Sussex. Upon completion of this course she embarked on a four-year Open Scholarship with the Royal College of Art but, in 1935, marriedGlyndwr Rees , moved with him to Somerset and spent the next few years in freelancetextile design while raising three children.In 1946 she co-founded the
Bridgwater Arts Centre and later became its Chairman. This was an important post-war mile-stone for it was Britain's first art centre, funded by theArts Council for many years. She was a founder member of theChandos Society of Artists , later becoming Chairman, and also chairedArtists 303 .In 1988 she was elected to the committee of the
Royal West of England Academy ,Bristol and in 1989 was voted Artist's Chairman, holding this position for 3 years. During her tenure she curated two important exhibitions: the acclaimed "Scottish Art in the 20th Century" and "Painters from Cornwall", which marked a time of significant change for RWA. Shortly before her death she was made an Honorary Academician for her services to the RWA.Her paintings are in the permanent collections of the RWA,
University of Bath ,Somerset County Council and in private collections in Europe, USA and Canada. A retrospective exhibition entitled "A Vision of Landscape and Light: Jean Rees Hon RWA 1914 - 2004" was staged atBridgwater Arts Centre andRoyal West of England Academy during 2006, receiving enthusiastic praise from several hundred visitors. The exhibition was accompanied by an illustrated biography which is available on request.Her son
Jeremy Rees , founded theArnolfini in Bristol in 1961.External links
*http://www.rwa.org.uk/rees.htm
*http://www.artists303.co.uk/artist_jean.html
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.