
CHICHESTER’S BOX OF DELIGHTS
I walked out into the bright late November sun. I was quite lightheaded so had to sit down.
For two hours I had been given a tour of what is, arguably, one of the most important collections of modern and contemporary British art in country. I was shown around eclectic assembly of paintings and sculpture and ceramics by Janet Carter who is Subject Librarian and Special Collections Manager at Chichester University[1].
This was a 2023 high spot! Why was I there in the first place? A: Still chasing the work of Peter Iden the West Sussex painter who’s thinking, and work has irrevocably changed the direction of my own.
The tour included a chapel. The Chapel Of The Ascension[2], designed and built for the college built in the 1960’s at a time when architects were taking risks, creating buildings that were exciting. Over the entrance is The Crucifixion unveiled on 21 March 1962 during the dedication ceremony for what was then the chapel. The sculpture, by Geoffrey Clarke R.A[3]. (1924 – 2014) is approximately 915 cm high and is made from cast aluminium. Thank the Lord I had my camera with me.
An exceptional idea
The Bishop Otter Art Collection was the extraordinary idea of two women who in the 1950’s and onwards held a strong believe that if students at Bishop Otter College (mainly on teach training courses) were exposed and encouraged to enjoy art that was new and challenging then they would take this disposition into the lives and careers. [4] Students were also encouraged to visit London to enjoy galleries, yes, the National Gallery but also those new galleries in the nooks and crannies of Mayfair.
Two smart women
The two women were the Principle of Bishop Otter College[5], K.M. Elizabeth Murray (1909 to 98) and Sheila McCririck who was Head of Art. Later the college merged with Bognor Regis College to become West Sussex Institute of Higher Education and latterly Chichester University. Charles Wollaston, printmaker and painter and ceramicist added his collection 80 piece collection to Bishop Otter’s in 1977.
Murray and McCririck had the nous and determination to build a collection which even today attracts huge attention from overseas. I was excitingly close to great paintings, including a piece by Peter Lanyon which had been loaned to an exhibition in the Netherlands. Requests poured in soon after the collection was established, from far and wide including the San Paulo Biennale in 1953.
Context
In the late 1940’s and early 1950’s the grandees of Britain’s art establishment were casting around for ways to build on initiatives like Kenneth Clark’s[6] various schemes, during his time at the National Gallery. The intent was to make art accessible and inviting to a wider public. The Bishop Otter initiative saw two ladies taking action based on their shared vision: providing access to the very best in modern British art.
Post WW2 austerity was much worst that visited upon us in more recent times (Lord Cameron)[7].
Down on the south coast, Chichester was setting the cultural pace. The Festival Theatre was a modernist outcrop designed by Powell and Moya. A couple of blocks down and across, at the Cathedral, Dean Hussey was commissioning works by painters John Piper, Graham Sutherland and composer Leonard Bernstein. An explosion of exciting ideas and actions in Chichester.
And taking risks
The merit of the works were the key criterion. Murray and McCririck were blessed with the particular powers to spot, seek out and secure works. Ivon Hitchens and Henry Moore were early in their sights. The first work acquired was Hitchens’ ‘Autumn Stream’ acquired in 1950.
The purchase of Patrick Heron’s painting Black and White in 1958 attracted much attention.
Truth is Beauty and Beauty is Truth and that picture is neither the truthful nor beautiful commented Lancelot Mason, Archdeacon of Chichester in (1946-73).
My particular delights[8]
Untitled by Sheila McCririck
Figure on Square Steps Henry Moore Bronze 20 cm high
Nets Sally Mather Oil on Board H 40 x W 50 cm 1957
The Green Mile Peter Lanyon Oil on Masonite H 158.7 x W 49.5 cm 1952
Entrance to a lane Graham Sutherland Oil on canvas H 61.4 x W 50.7 cm
Seventy years later, on a university campus, students and staff and visitors comme moi can be touched by paintings, drawings, sculpture and ceramics. Murray and McCririck believed in the civilising influence of art and in the educative value of its challenge and to achieve this the works had to be on open display in accessible places. The displays around the campus are regularly rotated by Janet Carter and her team. Some pieces are thoughtfully taken out of store to augment special events, concerts and the like. For us to enjoy
[1] The story of University of Chichester Art Collections https://www.chi.ac.uk/student-life/social-life/music-art-and-culture/art-collections/
[2] An excellent piece on the chapel and its treasures https://joninbetween.blogspot.com/2015/08/the-otter-gallery-and-chapel-of.html
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_Clarke
[4] The Bishop Otter Art Collection – a Celebration, the book by Gill Clarke is still available.
This article by the author was posted 13 Sep 2016, by Gill Clarke https://artuk.org/discover/stories/the-bishop-otter-art-collection-a-celebration
[5] William Otter established a small college to train schoolmasters in 1840, which was rebuilt in his memory in 1849 as Bishop Otter College. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Otter
[6] Background to Kenneth Clark https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Clark
An excellent book about Clark, English art historian, museum director, and broadcaster Kenneth Clark: Life, Art and Civilisation
James Stourton
[7] Former US President Barack Obama has blamed David Cameron’s austerity policies for driving the UK into recession following the 2008 financial crash from https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/barack-obama-promised-land-david-cameron-b1724420.html
[8] See works in the collection here https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/search/venue:university-of-chichester-otter-gallery-3697
Category: Galleries & Exhibitions, Jaunts Trips Shows