A month-long trail of exhibitions, events and activities across Dorset celebrating the life and work of the painter Fra H Newbery.

Can you help shed light on the ‘lost’ Newbery painting?

MYSTERY surrounds a painting hanging for nearly 80 years in the locked sacristy of a tiny church tucked away in west Dorset.

The 8ft by 6ft oil painting was painted by renowned Bridport artist Fra Newbery in 1931 and depicts five of the seven Chideock Martyrs who were killed for their Catholic faith between 1587 and 1642.

Research shows that two figures originally included in the picture were later painted out – but no-one knows why.

The painting hangs in the sacristy of Chideock’s Roman Catholic Church attached to Chideock Manor, where the Duke and Duchess of York lived during the 1980s. It has now come to the attention of the organisers of a month-long series of events to celebrate the life of Newbery, who went on to become director of Glasgow School of Art and a mentor to Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

Gaby Martelli, whose family have been connected with Chideock Manor and the Church of Our Lady Queen of Martyrs and St Ignatius since 1802, said: “I think my grandfather Humphrey Weld commissioned it but he died in 1929.

“We’re not sure where it originally hung but in my and my brother Charles’ lifetime it has always been in the priest’s sacristy.

“The church is open every day of the year but the sacristy has to be kept locked and the public don’t usually have access to this part of the building, which used to be the site of the original barn church.”

But the painting will be on show during the Newbery Trail, a series of events across Dorset in April. Trail project manager Crystal Johnson said she was delighted the picture would be available to view in the sacristy during April.

 

“This painting is quite typical of Newbery’s commissioned work for public places and offers a fascinating insight into the heritage of Chideock. Particularly interesting is the depiction of Chideock Castle. In a classic Newbery style, the backdrop of the action is a local scene, in this case Golden Cap and the sea beyond.”

“When I first saw the painting I was immediately struck by the enormous sun dominating the sky. We are fortunate that Newbery kept very good photographic records of all his work and so we know that there were originally two figures within the ‘sun’. The female figure was obviously Our Lady and we think that the male figure was St Ignatius, the patron of the church, but it would be fantastic to find out a bit more, particularly when and why they were painted out,” she said.

Mrs Martelli, who along with her brother Charles Weld is a trustee of the church, said: “Newbery was working in the area at the time and we think our grandfather got to know about him and commissioned the painting.

“It’s a charming painting and very interesting historically, and it deserves a wider audience. We are really pleased to be able to take part in the Newbery Trail.”

The church is one of the great gems of English Catholicism. It was finished in 1872 and inspired by Charles Weld, who not only designed the church in the Italian Romanesque style, but also painted much of the decorative work himself. Portraits by members of his family above the nave depict the English Martyrs

The five Chideock Martyrs featured in the painting are Blessed John Cornelius, family servants John Carey and Patrick Salmon, Blessed Thomas Bosgrave and Blessed Hugh Green. They all met a terrible death for their faith and were beatified in 1987, along with William Pike and Thomas Pilchard, who worked in the parish to keep the faith alive.

For more information please contact Crystal Johnson on 07968 577867.

Note to newsrooms:
In April 2008 Dorset will become the venue for an exciting, month-long trail of exhibitions, events and activities celebrating the life and work of the painter Francis H Newbery. Newbery was brought up in Bridport and retired to Corfe Castle in 1919 after a long and illustrious career as one of the most significant directors of Glasgow School of Art.

In his day Newbery’s paintings were well regarded and widely published although they are now little known despite being held in public and private collections around the world. As well as a respected painter in his own right he is perhaps best known for his pivitol role in promoting the work of his protégé, Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

Throughout his life Newbery’s driving force was “to make art more readily available to a wider public, attempting to relate it to their daily lives and to celebrate the traditions of the specific localities in which the works were sited”. The Trail has these same aspirations at its heart. Exhibitions will be the starting point for a number of different activities (such as talks, tours and workshops) that will explore the social, economical and industrial heritage of the communities in which Newbery worked.