Francis Hewlett

The two paintings illustrated here form part of the ´Bristol Empire Theatre´ series of works which Francis Hewlett began back in the early 1950´s when he was a young painting student at Bristol College of Art. He visited the ´Empire´ practically every night after late drawing classes and accumulated hundreds of drawings, many of them intricate and sophisticated, which at the time he felt far too immature to make into satisfactory paintings.

It was not until 40 years later, on retiring from his post as Head of Painting at Falmouth College of Art, that he finally settled down to create the kind of complex and vivid pictures that he had always known the drawings contained. The resulting images are ambitious and highly complex works of art, with a stunning command of perspective and detail. A number of pastels and etchings from the ´Empire´ series will also be on sale at the exhibition.

After attending Bristol College of Art, Francis continued to study painting and etching at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris and at the Slade School, London. He has exhibited widely since 1958: at Falmouth Art Gallery and Newlyn Art Gallery in Cornwall, the Oriel Gallery, Cardiff, the Festival Gallery, Bath and at the Royal Academy of Arts, London.

His work is held by Brows and Darby in London, and his paintings are represented in many public and private collections throughout the UK and Europe, including Bristol City Art Gallery. The National Library of Wales, Plymouth City Art Gallery, and Gregynog Hall, Wales. Francis Hewlett is an elected member of the Newlyn Society of Artists and the Royal West of England Academy and is a Gregynog Arts Fellow of the University of Wales.