Ralph Hedley
Ralph Hedley | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | December 31, 1848 |
| Died | June 14, 1913(aged 64) |
| Education | Studied life drawing underWilliam Bell Scott |
| Known for | Co-founder of the Bewick Club (a Newcastle artists' founadation); paintings recordingTyneside |
| Notable work | Woodcarving inNewcastle Cathedral,and paintingsCat in a Cottage Window,Last in MarketandGoing Home |
| Movement | Realism |
Ralph Hedley(31 December 1848[1]– 14 June 1913[2]) was arealistpainter, woodcarver and illustrator, best known for his paintings portraying scenes of everyday life in the North East of England.
Biography
[edit]
Born inGilling Westnear Richmond, North Yorkshire, Ralph and his parents Richard and Anne Hedley moved toNewcastle upon Tynearound 1850, on the wave of industrial opportunity.[3]Aged about 13, he was apprenticed to Thomas Tweedy in his carving workshops, simultaneously studying art and design at the 'Government school' in Newcastle,[4][5]and attending evening classes at the Life School underWilliam Bell Scott.At the age of 14 he was awarded a bronze medal by government's Department of Art and Science.
After concluding his apprenticeship, Hedley established a successful woodcarving business, whilst also producing lithographs for the local press and taking every opportunity to work as an artist. He had the first of many paintings,The Newsboy,accepted for exhibition at the Royal Academy in 1879. Joining withHenry Hetherington EmmersonandRobert Jobling,they founded the Bewick Club which encouraged and exhibited the work of the local artists of the North East, staging the first exhibition in 1884.[6]
Examples of his wood carving work can be found inThe Cathedral Church of St Nicholas,Newcastle, where, between 1882 and 1889, he and his workshop carved the choir and rood screen for the scheme by architect Robert James Johnson (1832–1892), commissioned when the Diocese of Newcastle was founded and Newcastle upon Tyne became a City.[7]Other carving work can be seen inSt Andrew's Church, Newcastle upon Tyneand many other North Eastern churches.
Career
[edit]
He was a member of theRoyal Society of British Artists,and had more than fifty of his paintings displayed at theRoyal Academybetween 1879 and 1904. He became President of the Bewick Club and was Vice-President of theSouth ShieldsArt Club.
Today, Hedley's paintings are appreciated for the record they provide of everyday life inTynesidein the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Even at the time of Hedley's death in June 1913, theNewcastle Daily Chroniclerecognised the value of his work, arguing that "What Burns did for the peasantry of Scotland with his pen, Ralph Hedley with his brush and palette had done for the Northumberland miner and labouring man."[8]
A number of Hedley's works, includingCat in a Cottage Window,Last in Marketand 'Going Home' are known throughout the world, many of them reproduced as popular prints. In March 2004,The Tournament,depicting a group of boys having a piggy-back fight, sold for £44,000 - a record for a Hedley painting at auction.[9]
Hedley is the amongst the most recent Newcastle figures to be honoured by the city'sCommemorative Plaque Scheme.[10]The plaque was unveiled by the Lord Mayor, Councillor George Douglas, on Monday 29 November 2004, at 19 Belle Grove Terrace inSpital Tongues,where Hedley lived from 1885 until his death in 1913. The property now forms part of the Belle Grove public house. Guests attending the unveiling included relatives of Hedley, and Julie Milne, the curator of theLaing Art Gallery.The Laing holds one of the largest bodies of Hedley's work, including 41 oil paintings and three watercolours, and a major exhibition devoted to Hedley in 1990. A book on Hedley's life and times was published in association with that exhibition.[1]
As part of the Festival of the North East, 2013, an exhibition of his work held in local public collections was shown at the Shipley Art Gallery, Gateshead,[11]and a small group of works from private and public collections was shown at the Hartlepool Art Gallery.
To mark the centenary of his death, Ralph Hedley was honoured by a choral evensong held at The Cathedral Church of St Nicholas on 14 June 2013, conducted by the Dean, the Very Revd Christopher Dalliston, and with the Newcastle Cathedral Choir.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^abRalph Hedley - Tyneside Painterby John Millard, Tyne and Wear Museums, Newcastle-on-Tyne 1990.
- ^Who's Who 1914,p. xxii
- ^Cass, Eddie (2003). "Ralph Hedley and His Sword-Dance Paintings".Folk Music Journal.8(3). London: English Folk Dance and Song Society: 335.ISSN0531-9684.
- ^"Ralph Hedley: Painting the North East - Exhibition in Gateshead, Gateshead - NewcastleGateshead".www.newcastlegateshead.com.Archived fromthe originalon 8 June 2013.
- ^Ralph Hedley: Painting the North Eastcommunity2.newcastle.gov.uk,accessed 16 December 2019
- ^Artist Biographies- Bewick Clubwww.artbiogs.co.uk,accessed 16 December 2019
- ^Old Newcastle: St Nicholas Cathedralwww.oldnewcastle.org.uk,accessed 16 December 2019
- ^"Record amount for artist's work".BBC News.24 March 2004.Retrieved7 August2008.
- ^'Best friend up for sale',Sunday Sun,6 March 2005.
- ^'Ralph Hedley honoured', Newcastle City Council, 29 November 2004.Archived22 August 2006 at theWayback Machine
- ^VIP visitors help to sing praises of artist Ralph Hedleywww.thejournal.co.uk,accessed 16 December 2019
External links
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| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
- 1848 births
- 1913 deaths
- 19th-century English painters
- English male painters
- 20th-century English painters
- British landscape artists
- Artists from Newcastle upon Tyne
- British Realist painters
- People from Richmond, North Yorkshire
- Members of the Royal Society of British Artists
- 20th-century English male artists
- 19th-century English male artists