Carinthia West 1968 by Barr.
THE VIEW FROM HERESOMETHING wonderful has happened in Newport. It has happened at Quay Arts, it will go on until September 4 and, even if you do nothing else this summer, make sure you go and see it.
The West Collection is the stunning compilation of work by contemporary artists, once the personal portfolio of Mike and Christine West.
This endearing couple combined the avant garde with the conventional (he was a general), artistic acumen with financial recklessness (no surer sign of this than the grim news, "I’ve had a letter from Barclays Bank") and joie de vivre with oodles of champagne.
The Wests spent a lot of time on the Island. As well as acquiring the most imaginative sort of artworks, they were also responsible for the piece of radical architecture that was their house in Bembridge.
Now their daughter, Carinthia (an agreeably wacky woman in her own right — well, she did hang out with Mick Jagger) has brought the collection back to the IW, celebrating the joyful legacy of her late parents and forming this superb exhibition at Quay Arts.
So, who have we got here? Just for starters, there’s John Bratby, L. S. Lowry and Roy Lichtenstein. Then there’s Barbara Hepworth, Elisabeth Frink, Bridget Riley and John Piper.
There are a couple of deliciously louche portraits of Carinthia by Feliks Topolski and another startling sketch of her by Rolf Harris.
For art lovers, it’s a complete dream. But it doesn’t matter a jot if you haven’t heard of any of these people, apart from Rolf Harris. Just go along.
It’s an utter delight and the kind of treat we don’t get often enough on the Island.
...and a treat that we won't be seeing much longer
WE may not get as much as we deserve but it’s certainly not true to say we don’t ever get treats or there aren’t people working very hard and effectively on the Island artistic scene.
All acknowledgement must go to Quay Arts and places such as Dimbola Lodge, which regularly put on high-standard exhibitions, within the limited confines of both their premises and their funds.
However, no marks at all to the IW Council, which is about to shove into store two important pictures located in the crumbling Northwood House.
This is, of course, entirely consistent with its philistine approach. Council leader Cllr David Pugh says: "The council will be locating these pictures in a safe, secure and environmentally monitored store."
Dear God, it sounds like something out of Brave New World. Never mind about letting the people see the pictures. Just make sure they’re environmentally monitored.
But the Northwood pictures are a minuscule part of the hoard of goodies hidden by the council in its environmentally monitored store. A lot of them are in a site bearing the sinister name of Cothey Bottom. I don’t like the sound of it at all. Once the artworks have been dragged off to Cothey Bottom, there’s no hope. It’s the cultural equivalent of a Gestapo dungeon.
Instead of letting places such as Northwood House and Ryde Theatre disintegrate, we should create ambitious premises where our treasures (and believe me, the list of things we’ve got and are not allowed to see would make you gasp) could be properly put on permanent exhibition.
Art and culture are not luxuries. They are essential for civilisation, for stimulation, for healing.
They give inspiration and hope, and act as balm to our psyches. The Island needs, and deserves, to have access to its heritage.
But the council lacks imagination. It has no portfolio for the arts. Nobody in its dreary reaches is really interested in such things.
But if it cannot be persuaded by the cultural argument, could it perhaps grasp that a proper museum and gallery project would bring huge financial advantages?
Why do you think people pour into St Ives? Because it’s got the Tate, that’s why.
And what have we got? Cothey Bottom, that’s what.