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Island printmakers’ work stands test of time

In the mid-1970s, Victoria’s Nicholas Tuele visited artist Sybil Andrews at her Campbell River home. Tuele says he was “blown over” by the English-born printmaker’s work, which lined the studio of the seaside cottage.
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Art curator Michelle Jacques with Sybil Andrews' print Speedway at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria.

In the mid-1970s, Victoria’s Nicholas Tuele visited artist Sybil Andrews at her Campbell River home.

Tuele says he was “blown over” by the English-born printmaker’s work, which lined the studio of the seaside cottage.

During their conversation, Andrews surprised Tuele by offering him the entire room of artworks at a rock-bottom price.

“She just said, maybe facetiously: ‘Nick, you should buy all of this and all I want is $5,000,’ ” he said this week.

It would have the bargain of the century.

In recent years, the value of Andrews’ works has skyrocketed. Last November her famous 1934 linocut Speedway (Tuele recalls there were several Speedway prints in her cottage) sold for $106,000 at a Toronto auction.

Tuele didn’t take Andrews up on her offer. He was then an extensions officer for the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, so making such a purchase (he was visiting in an official capacity) would have been a conflict of interest. As well, $5,000 was a good chunk of money 40 years ago.

Andrews’ linocuts and paintings (including Speedway) are part of an exhibition opening today at the AGGV. The show, A Study in Contrast, focuses not only on Andrews but the English artist Gwenda Morgan. Much lesser known, she created exquisitely detailed black-and-white wood engravings, often used as book illustrations.

Both artists died in the early 1990s. Both studied at the Grosvenor School of Modern Art in London. The school, which ran from 1925 to 1940, was renowned for the modernist prints, especially linocuts, created by teachers and students.

Michelle Jacques, chief curator at the AGGV, notes the Grosvenor School showed the influence of Russian Constructivism and Italian Futurism.

The emphasis of both art movements on geometry, technology and motion can be seen in Andrews’ Speedway. The exhibit features not only the Speedway linocut. Linoleum blocks used to create prints are also on display. Three motorcycles and their riders are depicted as minimalist, abstract shapes soaring in a single line. The riders (Tuele says Andrews referred to them as “little goblins on motorcycles”) are little more than goggles and gleaming helmets. Eighty years after its creation, Speedway is strikingly contemporary and dynamic.

Morgan’s style is less geometric and bold, yet Jacques points out it shares some of the “angularity and patterning of modernism.” The AGGV exhibit includes her 1962 wood engraving Bright Interval (it was donated by the artist to the gallery, which owns several of Morgan’s works). A tree and clouds in an ordinary neighbourhood assume the sharply geometric forms of the houses below them. Hard lines are softened by the small silhouettes of two cats and a person hanging laundry.

Jacques says showcasing Andrews and Morgan in A Study in Contrast was the brainchild of an AGGV researcher (who prefers not to be named). Jacques hopes the exhibit helps elevate the reputation of both artists, particularly Morgan.

“Part of the motivation of this show and the great discovery out of this research is the significance of Gwenda’s work. There’s a lot of artistry there. It’s not quite as immediately flashy as Sybil’s. But it is interesting — it’s not just picturesque,” she said.

After studying at the Grosvenor School in the 1930s, Morgan joined the Women’s Land Army, working on British farms throughout the Second World War.

As well as artworks by Morgan and Andrews, A Study in Contrast includes pieces by Grosvenor School instructors Claude Flight, Cyril Power and school founder Iain Macnab.

There are also artworks by others who influenced Morgan and Andrews, such as Picasso, Cezanne, Rembrandt, Durer and Katsusika Hokusai.

Both Morgan and Andrews were interested in portraying rural subjects. Andrews emigrated with her husband to Campbell River after the Second World War. There, she embraced West Coast subjects, such as First Nations culture, the landscape, logging and fishing.

One of the outstanding linocuts included in the AGGV show is Andrews’ Coffee Bar (1952). It shows the backs of a group of loggers huddled over a table. The geometric patterns of their flannel shirts — rich blues, browns, oranges and reds — are mirrored by their bodies, predominantly shown as rectangular shapes.

Tuele, now an independent art consultant, recalls visiting Andrews for the last time at a Victoria nursing home. It was Dec. 20, 1992 — the day before she died. He believes appreciation for the value of her art will continue to grow, both financially and otherwise.

“She was an amazing person,” he said, “and an amazing artist.”

achamberlain@timescolonist.com

What: A Study in Contrast

Where: Art Gallery of Greater Victoria

When: Opens today, continues to April 12

Gallery admission: $11, $13