English Lakes Hotels is hosting an art exhibition showcasing the works of British painter Norman Adams RA, who was renowned for his atmospheric watercolours.
Art in the Atrium
Low Wood Bay Resort & Spa is the venue for the hotel group’s inaugural ‘Art in the Atrium’ exhibition from 9 September 2023 until mid-January 2024.
The display, which has been organised in partnership with contemporary and modern British art specialists Gavagan Art, features a representative collection of Norman Adams paintings, including Dawn Window, Sunflowers - The Flight of Phaeton and Great Tree among Olive Trees.
It’s the first time that the setting of Low Wood Bay’s spacious atrium area has been used to give hotel guests and visitors a taste of original art, and something the venue will continue in the years to come, with an artist in residence from time to time.
Gavagan Art
The decision to work with Lancaster based Gavagan Art and use the atrium for the exhibition of Adams’ paintings came about through a conversation with local sculptor Shawn Williamson who has created a number of works for the resort.
The paintings of Norman Adams are in many private and over forty public collections in the United Kingdom, including the Tate Gallery in London.
"We want to bring great art to this very accessible space, a space where people may not be expecting an art exhibition, but one they will enjoy in an informal way. With the spectacular backdrop of Windermere’s fells, it’s fitting that we have chosen to showcase the works of Norman Adams. His landscapes and seascapes reflect the atmosphere – including capturing the mood of weather conditions - as much as they show the scenery. We hope it will give viewers a lot to contemplate and a chance to reflect on the grandeur of our natural surroundings here in the Lake District."
"Norman Adams was a prolific painter and has been called a romantic visionary. Throughout his life he captured in watercolour his feeling for the particular landscape where he was either living or visiting. “Norman is an amazing colourist and I feel it’s important to bring his art to a wider audience. This exhibition presents a representative group of his watercolours, both landscapes and seascapes, painted directly before nature together with a number of his larger oil paintings. “We’re delighted to be bringing these paintings to Windermere, thanks to Low Wood Bay Resort & Spa agreeing to host it."
Norman Adams RA (1927 -2005)
Norman Adams RA (1927 -2005) was a highly versatile artist whose first solo exhibition was at the Gimpel Fils Gallery, London, in 1952. A full exhibition of his work, Colour Chart of A Way, was held in the main Royal Academy galleries in 1988, highlighting his reputation as a superb colourist.
Other major commissions included murals for St Anselm’s Church Kennington, London and the commission he considered his major work, The Stations of the Cross, for St Mary’s Church, Mulberry Street, Manchester. He also designed stage sets and costumes for the Royal Ballet at Covent Garden and for Sadler’s Wells Theatre.