ALFRED PARSONS, A PROLIFIC ARTIST WHO ALSO ENJOYED DESIGNING GARDENS
ALFRED PARSONS R.A. was a prolific artist, mainly a landscape painter, who also produced illustrations at the very beginning of his career. From 1867 when he was 20, until his death in 1920, he continually exhibited his art works, and from 1884 to 1915 he added garden design, at a number of sites, from Clouds House to Great Chalfield Manor.
This talk proposes to demonstrate how Parsons exhibited his works continuously from 1878 to 1919 at venues like the Dudley Gallery, the Leicester Gallery and the Royal Academy. Alfred William Parsons began as a privileged illustrator of several books by William Robinson and very early he went on to exhibit watercolours and paintings in at least 14 galleries in London and 10 elsewhere in the U.K. His work also appeared in at least 8 important international exhibitions. He was on the committee selecting British art to be exhibited at the 1904 Saint-Louis World’s Fair. Links will be made between his artistic projects and some of his landscape gardening commissions.
Broadway had been his escape from London since 1886. At long last, he commissioned Andrew Noble Prentice, the Scottish Arts and Crafts architect, to design Luggershill, now Luggershall, where he moved in 1914 to spend the last six years of his life combining painting with the care of his roses.
The conclusion will attempt to clarify why a prolific landscape painter and landscape designer has been forgotten by the art and gardening communities and why this is constantly changing.
This talk proposes to demonstrate how Parsons exhibited his works continuously from 1878 to 1919 at venues like the Dudley Gallery, the Leicester Gallery and the Royal Academy. Alfred William Parsons began as a privileged illustrator of several books by William Robinson and very early he went on to exhibit watercolours and paintings in at least 14 galleries in London and 10 elsewhere in the U.K. His work also appeared in at least 8 important international exhibitions. He was on the committee selecting British art to be exhibited at the 1904 Saint-Louis World’s Fair. Links will be made between his artistic projects and some of his landscape gardening commissions.
Broadway had been his escape from London since 1886. At long last, he commissioned Andrew Noble Prentice, the Scottish Arts and Crafts architect, to design Luggershill, now Luggershall, where he moved in 1914 to spend the last six years of his life combining painting with the care of his roses.
The conclusion will attempt to clarify why a prolific landscape painter and landscape designer has been forgotten by the art and gardening communities and why this is constantly changing.
