Jean Rees (1914–2004) was a British

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating the work of art. The most common usage (in both everyday speech and academic discourse) refers to a practitioner in the visual arts o ...

. She dedicated the later part of her life to promoting the visual arts in the West of England. A highly accomplished landscape artist in her own right, exhibited at the

Royal West of England Academy The Royal West of England Academy (RWA) is Bristol's oldest art gallery, located in Clifton, Bristol, near the junction of Queens Road and Whiteladies Road. Situated in a Grade II* listed building, it hosts five galleries and an exhibition prog ...

(RWA), the

Royal Academy of Arts The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

, The

Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours The Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours (RI), initially called the New Society of Painters in Water Colours, is one of the societies in the Federation of British Artists, based in the Mall Galleries in London. History In 1831, the ...

, the Medici Gallery, Penwith Gallery, Newlyn Gallery and many others, she is noted for her distinctive, abstractive approach to colour, light and form inspired by the landscapes of the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

and the western counties of

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

and

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

. Jean Rees (née Jean Lamb) commenced her career by obtaining a National Diploma in Textile Design from the Hastings School of Art,

Hastings Hastings ( ) is a seaside town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to th ...

, East Sussex. Upon completion of this course she embarked on a four-year Open Scholarship with the Royal College of Art but, in 1935, married Glyndwr Rees, moved with him to Somerset and spent the next few years in freelance

textile design Textile design, also known as textile geometry, is the creative and technical process by which thread or yarn fibers are interlaced to form a piece of Textile, cloth or Textile, fabric, which is subsequently printed upon or otherwise adorned. Texti ...

while raising three children. In 1946 she co-founded the Bridgwater Arts Centre and later became its Chairman. This was an important post-war mile-stone for it was Britain's first art centre, funded by the

Arts Council An arts council is a government or private non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the arts; mainly by funding local artists, awarding prizes, and organizing arts events. They often operate at arms-length from the government to prevent pol ...

for many years. She was a founder member of the Chandos Society of Artists, later becoming Chairman, and also chaired Artists 303. In 1988 she was elected to the committee of the

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

and in 1989 was voted Artist's Chairman, holding this position for 3 years. During her tenure she curated two important exhibitions: the acclaimed "Scottish Art in the 20th Century" and "Painters from Cornwall", which marked a time of significant change for RWA. Shortly before her death she was made an Honorary Academician for her services to the RWA. Her paintings are in the permanent collections of the RWA,

University of Bath The University of Bath is a public research university in Bath, England. Bath received its royal charter in 1966 as Bath University of Technology, along with a number of other institutions following the Robbins Report. Like the University ...

, Somerset County Council and in private collections in Europe, USA and Canada. A retrospective exhibition entitled "A Vision of Landscape and Light: Jean Rees Hon RWA 1914 - 2004" was staged at Bridgwater Arts Centre and

during 2006, receiving enthusiastic praise from several hundred visitors. The exhibition was accompanied by an illustrated biography which is available on request. Her son Jeremy Rees, founded the Arnolfini in Bristol in 1961.

References

External links

*https://web.archive.org/web/20050414054552/http://www.rwa.org.uk/rees.htm *https://web.archive.org/web/20070930023606/http://www.artists303.co.uk/artist_jean.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Rees, Jean 1914 births 2004 deaths 20th-century English painters 21st-century English painters British landscape artists English contemporary artists British contemporary artists