PICTURE PERFECT – Historical Society of Eastbourne

The eastern bays, through the eyes of local artists
It all started with a phone call, and an unexpected invitation: would the Historical Society be interested in mounting an exhibition in the Hutt Art Society’s galleries? Even better, an anonymous benefactor would pay the gallery fees. Of course we said yes! So, after months of preparation, we’ll be presenting Picture Perfect: A century of paintings and photographs of the Eastern Bays at the Hutt Art Centre in Myrtle Street, Lower Hutt, from 7 th to 17 th May.

The timing of the invitation was excellent. Two years earlier we’d embarked on a major project: to create a detailed inventory of the artworks in our archive Collection, to get them restored if needed, and to research the artists, some of whom we knew very little about.
The inventory and research were carried out by Claire Taggart, one of our dedicated volunteers. Her work meant we could start thinking about sharing these unique paintings and drawings, most of them never exhibited before, with the wider community. And because we had nowhere to display them permanently, an exhibition seemed the way to go.
So where did these artworks come from? Like nearly everything in our Collection, they’d had been donated to the Historical Society over many years. Some were inherited from the Eastbourne Borough Council in 1989; others were gifted by the artists or their families, or by local residents moving house or sorting an estate. A few were bequests. Several more artworks have been donated in the past year, and a few others are being loaned for the exhibition. Nearly all are by local artists, some of them
well-known names in Wellington art circles, such as Albert Hansen-Knarhoj, Elisabet Delbrück, Rena Swift and Alan Collins. Other names are less familiar, for example Arthur Percival Potter, Simon Prins and Catherine Clunies-Ross.

The collection ranges from small watercolours and pencil drawings to large oil paintings. Among them are two striking portraits: one of Miss Aileen Stace (1895-1977), a well-known Eastbourne resident, and the other of a colourful local character whose identity is currently under wraps.

The artworks actually span more than the ‘century’ of the title: the earliest is dated 1911, while the most recent was completed just last year. The timespan allows us to notice gradual changes, such as the regenerating bush and Eastbourne’s shifting shoreline. Recurring subjects include the harbour in all its moods, Lion Rock (clearly a popular landmark!), and the old ferries, especially the much-loved Cobar (1906-1948). Yet the visitor is also in for some surprises. A railway at Pencarrow Head in the early 1900s – who knew?
In the smaller of the two galleries, the visitor enters the black-and-white (and occasionally hand-coloured) world of early 20 th century photography. Most of the photographs came to us from the Borough Council and are being exhibited here for the first time. They include large, remarkably clear panoramas in their original frames, which makes them rare historical objects in their own right.

Also part of the Council’s legacy is a collection of framed photographs depicting aspects of life ‘at the bay’ from the 1920s to the 1950s. Some of these images may be more familiar, but together they provide a fascinating study of a young and growing community.
There’ll be surprises here too – even for us. A member of the Hutt Art Society found some ‘mystery’ glass-plate negatives of the eastern bays in a car boot sale, and these are currently being developed and printed. All will be revealed at the exhibition….

We look forward to seeing you there in May – and please tell your friends!
Ali Carew