Earlier this year, eight British artists travelled through Luxor and Aswan and along the Nile, painting as they went. They stood among ancient temples and in village courtyards, watched feluccas cross the river and worked in the shifting Egyptian light.
The resulting body of work has been brought together for Along the Nile: Eight Artists in Egypt, an exhibition at Summerleaze Gallery in East Knoyle.
The group – Tim Scott Bolton, Susie Elliott, Luke Martineau, Bella Martineau, Charles Church, Richard Foster, Alice Boggis Rolfe and Geoffrey Leckie – encountered the same landscape, but their paintings reveal very different experiences of it.
Landscape and portrait painter Luke Martineau said the trip was all about the light: ‘The light of the Nile is still with me. Everything is suffused with a golden intensity.’
The Nile itself has long fascinated artist Tim Scott Bolton: ‘The Nile feels timeless,’ he says. ‘Its wide, serene beauty, with feluccas under sail and waterside temples, conveys a sense of permanence.’
Susie Elliott’s memories are rather less tranquil: ‘A whirlwind of sights, colour, dust, noise and flavours.’ Her pastels contrast the energy of contemporary Egypt with its ancient landscape, the feluccas on the river providing moments of calm.
Bella Martineau looked beyond the great monuments, finding subjects in donkeys, village houses and everyday life.
There is a Dorset connection, too. Equestrian artist Charles Church, who is based in the county, was returning to Egypt having painted there before.
He was particularly drawn to what he describes as its ‘soft, luminous light and ancient architecture’, and to the rural simplicity of Elephantine Island and the West Bank. His two works in the exhibition depict feluccas at Elephantine Island and Luxor Temple.
Seen together, the paintings move constantly between two Egypts – the monumental country of temples, tombs and thousands of years of history, and the lived-in landscape of boats, animals, homes and people going about their day. What connects them all is the Nile: eight artists standing in front of the same extraordinary landscape and finding something entirely their own to paint.
Along the Nile: Eight Artists in Egypt is at Summerleaze Gallery, East Knoyle, on 10th and 11th October, 10am–4pm, with viewing by appointment from 12th to 16th October. Entry is free.
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