Southwark Art Collection - Previous ExhibitionsNew Visions, Print and Printmaking 1620 - 1932
January 21 to April 26 2003
The New Visions exhibition was about the process of exploration, the discovery of this collection of prints, looking into their past and sharing what they have to say about themselves. It was about the discovery of new methods of making a print on paper and new ways of seeing the world, whether illustrating domestic life and public pleasures, the ever present cult of personality (the pop figures of yesterday), political and religious concerns, or the growing realisation that the wider world and understanding of it is without end.
Some of the prints are by major historic artists and others are completely unknown. An exhibition catalogue is available for sale - please phone the Cuming Museum on 020 7525 2332.
 "The Landgate Rye" by Alfred Withers (b. London 1856)
Etching on machine made pale brown paper, 1883.
Issued as one of three etchings of English scenes by various artists published in July 1883 portfolio of English Etchings. Each was issued loose to enable framing by the subscriber.
Withers was a watercolour painter of landscapes and architecture. He exhibited at the Royal Academy and Suffolk Street Gallery from 1881.
"Hercules rests after slaying the lion" by Elisha Kirkall after Louis Cheron, c. 1720s. 
Original colour woodcut over mezzotint on laid paper.
The picture tells the story from Greek mythology, but to an 18th century audience it could read as a tale about man's constant fight with both supernatural and natural forces. According to the About 1722-24 Kirkall made popular a method of producing prints in chiaroscuro by printing with woodcut tone blocks over a mezzotint foundation. It was used as here to make copies of Old Master drawings.
Honore Daumier: Lithographer Extraordinaire
Cuming Museum January 15 to March 19 2002
This exhibition showcased prints by the artist Honore Daumier (1808 - 1879). The print collection was donated to the South London Gallery collection by William Wright in 1902. William Wright was a retired gentleman of private means and an "observant student of French art and an early admirer of Daumier, of whose work, in time, as he learned more and more of his genius, he became an ardent collector". From the Grange, Denmark Hill, Camberwell, Wright made frequent visits to Paris, giving him the opportunity over many years to enlarge his collection of prints.
Wright donated nearly 500 Daumier lithographs which remains one of the largest collections in any public gallery.
An exhibition catalogue is available for sale - please contact the Cuming Museum on 020 7525 2332.
"Salon de 1842" 
The salon was the annual or biennial government-sponsored exhibition in Paris, which, by the mid 19th century, had become the most important exhibition of modern art in Paris. The humour of Daumier's illustration, perhaps a reflection upon the dubious quality of works exhibited at the Salon of 1842, is immediate and, to a large extent, independent from its caption.
"Scenes grotesques" 
Oh! It's wonderful! only, the mouth seems a bit big to me, the nose, a bit heavy. And the eyes, aren't mine larger? otherwise it's a perfect likeness!
A reflection upon mankind's persistent vanity, and our reluctance to see ourselves for what we really are, Daumier's illustration also reflects upon the very art of caricature itself. Thy physical distortion characteristic of this art is evoked by the caption, to suggest perhaps our inability to recognize when we have become the butt of the caricaturist's joke.
To find out more about the rest of Southwark Art collection see the Southwark Art Collection page.
Contact us
Chris Jordan
Collections assistant
Tel: 020 7525 3795
christopher.jordan@southwark.gov.uk
155-157 Walworth Road
London
SE17 IRS
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