The collection of watercolours and oils by Malcolm Arbuthnot was acquired by local antiques dealer Mick Brown last year and he was persuaded to put together an exhibition, which opens today.
Mr Brown bought around 150 of the artist’s paintings from a family who had acquired the collection in the late 1960s. He found that the works had been stored in feed bags and some were in poor condition.
- Surrey-born Malcolm Arbuthnot (18771967) was initially well known for his ground-breaking photography work, which he exhibited regularly in London at the turn of the last century.
- He did much to promote the idea of photography as a high art but also established himself as a portrait photographer. His list of sitters included Joseph Conrad, Sarah Bernhardt, Diaghilev and Matisse, and there are a number of Arbuthnot prints in the National Portrait Gallery collection.
- Arbuthnot moved to France to concentrate on painting in about 1926, after the death of his first wife.
- He went on to marry wealthy heiress Florence Davisonand and moved to Jersey in 1946.
- He spent the spent the rest of his life painting in the Island and died in 1967 at the age of 90.
‘I kept about 90 of the very good ones. Some needed light restoration and I had them mounted and framed very simply, because I didn’t want the frames to detract from the work,’ said Mr Brown, who will be putting 60 on display, although the remainder will be available to view.
There are oils and watercolours and they vary from about 12 x14 inches for the watercolours and a little bigger for the oils. They are mainly of St Aubin, where the artist lived for last 12 years of his life.
Mr Brown added: ‘These paintings are a time capsule, so to speak, of the fishing port, capturing wonderful colours, light and shape.
‘His works have been of huge influence on local artists, both past and present. He painted St Aubin when it was still a fishing port and there are many pictures are of boats being cleaned and worked on, and of the quays and the fishermen.
‘All the pictures are within the bounds of St Brelade, from St Aubin up to La Moye and especially the Railway Walk.
‘It’s a snapshot of the social history of the area.
‘His style is challenging because you really do need to look at them, they pull you in and make you think.’
Mr Brown says that in 40 years he has come across around 25 to 30 Arbuthnots, so he believes they are quite rare.
‘These new ones have never been on public display before,’ he said. ‘Carlo at the framing shop saw them and said it would make a marvellous exhibition of his work.
‘I wasn’t thinking of having an exhibition, but Carlo convinced me.
‘I’m not a gallery – I do antiques – so from my point of view it’s a chance to give the Jersey public something special.’
The exhibition opens on Monday and runs for two weeks until Saturday 14 March, from 9 am to 5 pm, at Framing and Art Ltd, 61 New Street.
Any work unsold after that will be on display at Mr Brown’s showroom at Brown’s Antiques, La Haie Fleurie, St Martin. The pieces start from about £400.
