Cumbrian favourite Sheila Fell honoured at new exhibition

Arguably one of the 20th century’s greatest landscape painters, Fell’s dark and evocative paintings of the Solway plain led LS Lowry to regard her as the greatest artist of her generation.

Sheila Fell: Cumberland on Canvas opens on November 23 2024, running until 16 March 2025, and brings together close to 100 works from private and public collections with the generous support of the Weston Loan Programme with Art Fund.

Born in the small mining town of Aspatria, Cumberland, Sheila Fell RA FRSA (1931–1979) studied at Carlisle School of Art, located within Tullie House, then St. Martin’s School of Art.

Fell lived the rest of her life in London, though the landscape of her home was her main source of inspiration. LS Lowry became her patron and mentor, and the two artists had an enduring friendship.

A few of the loans featured in the exhibition include:

• Head of Sheila Fell, 1954 by Frank Auerbach (1931-2024): a key loan from one of Britain's leading painters. Auerbach was a friend and major influence on Fell's life and work.
• Haystack in a Field, 1967 on loan from TATE: Fell's family had farmed for generations before her father became a miner and the interest in the farming year was always a favoured subject for her paintings.
• The painting Fell was working on at the time of her death in 1979 (pictured): recently rediscovered after years hidden away in an outbuilding, the artwork has undergone extensive conservation by the Fine Art Restoration Company and is on loan from Castlegate House Gallery.

The loans from the national museums are supported by the Weston Loan Programme with Art Fund. Created by the Garfield Weston Foundation and Art Fund, the Weston Loan Programme is the first ever UK-wide funding scheme to enable smaller and local authority museums to borrow works of art and artefacts from national collections.

Further support for the exhibition comes from the Granada Foundation.

The exhibition features work spanning the artist’s entire career, focusing on the themes of Cumberland, learning and influences, painting, printmaking, drawing, recognition, family, friendships and legacy.

Collaborations with Richmond Hill Primary School and Beacon Hill Secondary School from Fell’s hometown feature: a digital display of artistic responses and an atmospheric spoken word soundscape.

Fellow Cumbrian Melvyn Bragg will feature twice in the exhibition. Firstly, narrating a segment on Fell from a 1963 edition of BBC arts series 'Monitor' and secondly in an interview recorded in 2024 where he discusses Fell's career, background, artistic approach and challenges she faced. 

READ MORE: Tullie confirm official re-opening date. 

Sheila Fell: Cumberland on Canvas has been curated by Eleanor and Andrew Bradley, authors of a catalogue raisonné of Fell’s work, set to be published in spring 2025.

Andrew Mackay, museum director of Tullie said: "Tullie is delighted to host this exhibition of work by Sheila Fell, the most important retrospective of her work in 30 years. Fell’s work captures the spirit of the Solway Coast: the farms, the landscape and the people of Cumbria. It is doubly fitting to celebrate this at Tullie, where she started to learn her craft.”

Sophia Weston, deputy chair of the Garfield Weston Foundation, said:

"Our programme is all about helping museums stage exciting exhibitions through significant loans so we are thrilled to support this display of Fell's work in Cumbria, where her paintings have such a special resonance."

Sheila Fell: Cumberland on Canvas runs at Tullie Museum and Art Gallery in Carlisle from 23 November 2024 to 16 March 2025, open 10am-4pm Monday to Saturday and 11am-4pm Sundays.

Exhibition entry is included with £15 museum admission giving unlimited access. Under-18s enter free. After concluding at Tullie, the exhibition will tour to Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens.

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