A very British medium

Watercolour, that quintessentially British medium and form of expression, is currently enjoying a revival of interest among contemporary artists and academics alike. Following on from Tate Britain’s riveting Thomas Girtin exhibition and Hockney’s forays into the Nordic and Yorkshire landscapes come two exciting and enchanting shows, a short bus journey between the two. Both offer a rare opportunity to see in London otherwise inaccessible works.

At Messum’s, the show of north Yorkshire artists includes small-scale atmospheric watercolours and mixed-media works, of the dales, by Peter Hicks. In Len Tabner’s small- and large-scale works, one can see how the thick handmade paper has been flooded with watercolour to create dramatic tensions, as the watercolour, wet on wet, is manipulated in unison with opaque materials, such as chalk, pastel and pencil. As the catalogue author, Jenny Pery, states, such works as ‘Whitby from Upgang Shore, April 12th 2005’ represent a ‘passionate account of one man’s experience of the watery, earthy, fiery and airy elements with which we are all surrounded’.