A new exhibition at Gallery Oldham gives visitors a chance to see an important collection of paintings displayed in its entirety for the first time in several years.
The paintings were collected over a thirty year period by Charles Lees, a prosperous Oldham industrialist with a keen interest in art.
Charles Lees was a key figure in the founding of the original Oldham Library, Museum and Art Gallery in 1883 and he generously donated his outstanding collection of 80 watercolours to the gallery.
The collection gives a great overview of a century of watercolour paintings. It includes works by a roll call of celebrated artists including JMW Turner, John Cozens, Paul Sandby, Thomas Girtin, Peter de Wint, Francis Danby and John Constable.
Charles Lees bought his first works of art in the 1860s and soon after this his father, Eli, introduced him to William and George Agnew, art dealers in London and Manchester.
Their subsequent friendship was a major factor in Charles Lees’ development as an art collector. This superb collection contains work by all the major watercolour artists of the 1700s and 1800s.
During Charles Lees’ lifetime watercolour painting grew in popularity among the newly rich. It had traditionally been thought of as best used for sketches but during the first half of the 1800s it became accepted as a means of exploring grand ideas such as the beauty of nature.
Like all watercolours, these paintings are light sensitive. This means that each time they are exposed to light, they fade ever so slightly, so they cannot be kept on permanent display.
For the past few years the gallery has shown a small changing selection of these pictures in the Oldham Stories Gallery. This is a rare opportunity to see them all at once.
‘Watercolours from the Lees Collection’ opens on November 19 until April 15.
