This year is the 60th anniversary of the death of the renowned artist Mary Stormont who, with the artist Eileen Eason, founded the Rye Art Gallery.
Mary married the artist Howard Gull Stormont in 1898, against the wishes of her parents. The couple eloped to Rye and lived in Ypres Studio on the High Street, and they became the focus in Rye for visiting artists. In the 1920s she was a founder member of the Rye Art Club under the patronage of author Henry James. The Rye Society of Artists continues the ethos and traditions of the founder members to this day.
In the times when Mary grew up, female artists were overshadowed by male artists, but during her lifetime this began to change, partly because of her influence. Mary lived next door to the painter Eileen Eason. Many artists from around the world were drawn to this quirky house to draw, paint and share ideas. The history of Rye Art Gallery is in essence the history of women painters who came together and, bonded by a common cause, encouraged women to break into a male-dominated scene.
The two ladies got together with a lawyer and set up the Rye Art Charitable Trust in 1957. By 1965 both artists were dead and their two houses were knocked through, Rye Art Gallery was born and the first exhibition took place.
Mary exhibited throughout her life, showing regularly at the Royal Academy, the Bruton Galleries in London, Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool and the Ridley Art Club. She first exhibited at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition in 1899 with an oil painting, A Wayside Inn. She carried on showing her work in at least seventeen Royal Academy Exhibitions, her last being in 1940.
Mary was especially sought after for her flower paintings, but also painted interiors and landscapes. As well as a painter, she was an accomplished photographer. Her subjects were women on the land and beaches around Rye. She loved to capture the local customs and way of life, Her aim was to create a photographic documentary of the life of Rye through women’s eyes.
On her death she bequeathed Ypres Studio, approximately one hundred art works and money to the Rye Art Gallery Trust.
The first exhibition in the gallery this year, 2022, runs from 29 January to 20 March and showcases Paula MacArthur: Still Light. Running alongside this will be an exhibition called Still Life with Flowers featuring artists from the gallery’s permanent collection including Mary Stormont, Miranda Boulton, Hermione Allsop, Rachel Lancaster, Graham Crowley, Diana Low, Narbi Price, Kenneth Townsend and Judith Tucker.
It is very fitting to celebrate Mary’s works amongst the others, as it is sixty years since she died and her reputation has gone from strength to strength. Her legacy draws people from around the world.
The gallery is home to an inspiring display of regularly changing contemporary art and craft for sale, a fine permanent collection of national and regional importance and a variety of supporting events.
Curator and director Julian Day commented, “Rye Art Gallery with its large open gallery spaces, remarkable permanent collection alongside a great programme of exhibitions planned and fine art for sale by leading contemporary artists, makes us unique. Please do come in and visit us soon.”
Image Credits: Rye Art Gallery .
These exhibitions start this weekend
Do go and visit as you will find some interesting paintings to ponder on
Without the Stormonts, Rye would not now be the home of one of the Country’s finest art galleries which is probably alone in not only having a substantial and prestigious permanent collection but also a retail side that has been throughout a leading proponent of contemporary and cutting edge art. During the past 60 years, it has sold works by many distinguished Royal Academicians- you could have bought an original by Mary Fedden before she was elected as a member for as little as £25- and featured exhibitions by the likes of Lynda McCartney, Duncan Grant, and Edward Burra. It has also allowed local artists to become well known as it worked closely with the artistic community. Its extensive archives are a testament to a wonderful history and tradition.
When I was the Gallery’s Chairman, in recognition of the debt owed to the Stormonts, I instituted awards in their name. This is aimed at Primary Schools in the area to encourage these young children to submit their artworks for prizes. By the number of entries received, this proved to be extremely popular with the winners and their families attending the Gallery for the award ceremonies. I hope that now we are through the worst of the pandemic, the Gallery will be able to restart these Awards as it remains vital that young people are encouraged in art and their efforts rewarded.
The community should be very proud to have this remarkable legacy that successive Trustees and volunteers have worked hard to preserve and enhance. Long may this continue.
A valuable piece by KT. I often regret that Mary Stormont is overlooked when notable Rye women are listed. When she eloped with Howard Stormont to Rye in the late 1890s, she certainly broke new ground. With her links to others of her time, such as Henry James, she was influential in the Town.
In my time, there was an exhibition (2011) of the work of both Mary and her husband Howard which included a sample of the interesting archives of letters and other material, held by the Trust, which illustrated the social life around the centre of Rye in the early part of the 20 century.
When we embarked on the project to link the two buildings we were careful to incorporate elements of the original structure (such as her studio and gazebo) into the scheme.
The 1957 trust deed signed by Mary and her colleagues provided the fundamental guidelines for the operation and plans of the gallery. Importantly it makes clear that the gallery and artworks were left to the people of Rye. This is a legacy worth remembering and celebrating.
Anthony Kimber PhD
Former Chair Rye Art Gallery Trust
Henry James died in 1916 so how could he have been a patron of the Rye Arts Club in the 20s? There’s a date wrong somewhere, perhaps?
After their marriage in 1897 the Stormont’s home was Ypres Studio, an ‘arts and crafts’ house in Ockman Lane, not in the High Street.
Eileen Easton lived at 107 High Street and joined Mary and 3 others as first trustees in 1957. She died in 1965 bequeathing her house to the Trust. The 2 houses were not then ‘knocked through’ but completely separate until the end of the first decade of the 20th century. Separately, the ‘Easton Rooms’ exhibited contemporary art for sale while the Ypres (later Stormont) Studio showed the growing Permanent Collection’. Plans to join them were drawn up in the 1980s but did not come to fruition. Chair Dr Anthony Kimber and architect trustee Andrew Blyth, whose novel design spanned the difficult intervening spaces and different ground levels, oversaw the building of the award-winning extension and link in 2010.
Secondly, regarding the 542 photographs which form part of the Stormont Archive, there is no evidence at all to suggest that they were all taken by Mary or are an attempt to record the life of women. They are stored in 25 subject groups, including family, holidays and their paintings, but the bulk are landscapes, farming, country occupations and beach scenes. Many are subjects most frequently painted by Howard. For example, there are 32 photos of hay-making and stacks, probably in preparation for his highly finished watercolour ‘Harvest at Cadborough Hill, Rye’. There are 18 photos of flower arrangements, likely to have been recorded by Mary for her flower paintings. There are photos of models including Mary, which must have been taken by Howard.
Thirdly, Rye Art Club ran from 1920-37 and the Stormonts were among a group of artist founder members. Exhibitions were held in the ‘Henry James Studio’ in the garden behind 4 Watchbell Street. As Jane says, James was not a patron but there are 2 of his letters in the archive, accepting an invitation to tea with the Stormonts in 1906.
I am so pleased that Jane and Fanny have pointed out the errors in this article
My Para 2 – 21st century.
Henry James, name appeared in the Rye arts Club catalogues as an honorary chair many years after his death in 1916 as was tradition.