A Singular Vision: Fifty Years of British Painting at the Portal Gallery

by Jess Wilder

Book by Wilder, Jess, Gascoigne, Laura

Genres: Art

207 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2009

Reviews

[Jill Meyer]

I discovered the Portal Gallery on a visit to London about 20 years ago. At that time, it was in a location in Mayfair, on a side street north of Piccadilly. The gallery specialised in "idiosyncratic art", which I suppose meant you wouldn't see the art at many other galleries. One of their main artists was the late Beryl Cook, whose work was definitely...idiosyncratic, but if you had bought her paintings and hung on to them, you'd probably have made some money. But many of the other artists shown WERE my type and I have dropped some coin on gorgeous pieces by Whyn Lewis, Jane Lewis, Steve Easby, and Lizzie Riches. Work by all of these artists, as well as a few others, are shown in the splendid book, "A Singular Vision: Fifty Years of British Painting at the Portal Gallery", by Jess Wilder and Laura Gascoigne.

The art that catches my interest is generally portraits, both of people and animals. Whyn Lewis's dogs and other animals are so whimsically, but intelligently painted. that the subject, whether a frog preparing to leap or a hare in mid-leap, seems ready to land in your lap. The book's paintings are so beautifully photographed that each page in the book is engrossing. Jess Wilder's book is a treat, particularly if you don't have the real art on your walls!

[Tanya]

This is an inspiring awesome art book,