George Shaw and Thomas Bewick

Villa Bagatelle

George Shaw’s paintings depict suburban woodlands—secret havens from his youth—to address the ever-present themes of death and eroticism.

George Shaw, Plein Air, 2018 © Charles-Frederick Ouellet

George Shaw

(England)

Born in 1966 in Coventry, England, George Shaw obtained a master’s in painting in 1998 from the Royal College of Art in London, after studying fine art at Sheffield Polytechnic (1989). His work has been shown in a number of solo shows at Ikon Gallery (Birmingham), the Centre d’art contemporain Genève, the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art (Gateshead), and the National Gallery (London). He has also taken part in group exhibitions in Basel, New York, Los Angeles, Prague and Mexico City. In 2011, he was a finalist for the prestigious Turner Prize.

anthonywilkinsongallery.org/artists/27-george-shaw/works/

George Shaw’s paintings depict suburban woodlands—secret havens from his youth—to address the ever-present themes of death and eroticism.

➤ Note the many connections between these historical pieces and George Shaw’s contemporary practice!

Thomas Bewick’s Tale-Pieces are miniature eighteenth-century masterpieces representing, in minute detail, irreverent anecdotes that deliver moral lessons and prominent social criticisms.

Thomas Bewick, Tale-Pieces, 1790-1804 © Charles-Frederick Ouellet

Thomas Bewick

(England)

Thomas Bewick (1753-1828) was a British wood engraver from the Northumberland region of England. In 1767, he apprenticed to the engraver Ralph Beibly, becoming his partner in business nine years later. He went on to develop a practice as illustrator and author, publishing his own books on natural history. Bewick’s work includes Gay’s Fables (1779), Select Fables (1784) and Chillingham Bull (1789). His most well-known contributions are the illustrated works A General History of Quadrupeds (1790) and History of British Birds (1797 and 1804). He also illustrated the poems “The Traveller” and “The Deserted Village” by Oliver Goldsmith, as well as “The Chase” by William Somervile.

bewicksociety.org