Rex Whistler - The Christmas stocking

The Christmas Stocking

A painting, by Reginald John (Rex) Whistler, aged 16. Six years later, in 1927,  he completed perhaps his most famous work, the murals in the restaurant of Tate Britain.

In Brighton he is famous for "HRH the Prince Regent Awakening the Spirit of Brighton", 1944. This hangs upstairs in the Royal Pavilion and was the centre piece of a major exhibition in Brighton Art Gallery in 2006, "Rex Whistler: The Triumph of Fancy". It was originally painted on the wall of a house in Preston Park Avenue where Rex Whistler was stationed during WW2.

Interestingly this painting has become seriously darkened with age and perhaps, being on wallpaper, the possibilites for restoration are limited. Only the techniques of digital photography allow it to be appreciated in anything like its original state.

Self portrait 1940

Rex Whistler was subsequently killed in Normandy in 1944 and, according to his wishes, expressed only hours before, was buried where he fell.

Wheel view

For earlier posts:- Wheel progress 3

The Mitre House Hotel development

Planning  application BH2011/034343 details the proposed conversion of the north block of Mitre House into a 3 storey, 134 bed hotel. The principle of a hotel on this site was established last year by application BH2010/01966. On the Western Road frontage of Mitre House a separate entrance to the hotel will be created, alongside the existing entrance, by utilising the existing shop at no.150.

From this entrance a passageway leads to the north block and the hotel, (see below).

The work includes adding an extra storey to the north block by means of a mansard roof with dormer windows, executed with a zinc cladding. The deteriorating exterior brickwork will be pale rendered. (See below).

Proposed elevation on Hampton Street

The improvement to Hampton Street should be considerable, although it is only fair to note that in the visualisation above the artist has somehow forgotten the rubbish bins.

Hampton Street at present.

New Queen Square hotel - planning application

A planning application (BH2011/03227) has been submitted to replace the old skating rink at the end of Queen Square and no.11, the last house on the LH side, with a five storey, serviced apartment hotel with a restaurant/café at ground floor level. The hotel will be known as "The Light".

The designs have been prepared by Conran & Partners, and the application impresses with the amount of research and effort that has gone into ensuring that the building harmonises seamlessly with adjacent period properties, and enhances the immediate neighbourhood without dominating it. The front of the hotel is mainly rendered, and has balconies and windows disposed and proportioned to echo patterns established in the adjacent frontages. The 'lantern' top storey is stepped back from the front to minimise height. The rear is in grey brick to harmonise with the colours predominant in and around St. Nicholas churchyard. To the west end of the site, behind the west side of Queen Square, the upper floors are stepped back from the rear walls of Wykeham Terrace to minimise overshadowing, and the balconies so formed screened to maintain privacy.

A not insignificant planning gain will be the improvement of Queen Square itself. The developer's aspirations for this, shown below, require a levelling of the approach to the hotel to provide an outside eating area and a public art work to attract people into the Square:-

The Square however, being a cul-de-sac, will still struggle to increase footfall. The suggestion for a pedestrian 'cut-through' from Queen Square to the St. Nicholas open space was considered but, unfortunately, failed to receive persuasive backing.  The factors said to weigh against it are the 3 metre change in gradient and the need to demolish a section of the churchyard wall. These points are valid to some extent but not insuperable. What seems to have been the main concern is the unknown consequences of a new link between a quiet area and the busy city centre, notwithstanding that any conceivable problem could surely have been obviated by the provision of gates. There was never any suggestion of establishing a  permanent right-of-way. As things stand, due to timidity, a unique opportunity to improve the City's pedestrian links will be lost forever.

Earlier posts:-

A new footpath to St. Nicholas?

New hotel for Queen Square 2

New hotel for Queen Square

Charles Burleigh, Hove artist

The Burleigh family taking tea in Wilbury Crescent, Hove. c.1940

This painting by Charles H.H. Burleigh is in the collection of the Geffrye Museum, Shoreditch. Burleigh, 1875-1956, studied at Brighton School of Art and in Paris, and painted a variety of subject matter in both oil and watercolour. The artist was married to Averil Burleigh, another artist, and they had 7 Wilbury Crescent built in 1905. Their daughter, Veronica, was also a painter. 

Brighton Art Gallery has 22 paintings by Charles in its collection, including "Brighton Front", below, the painting for which he is best known locally.

Brighton Front 1920

Other well-known paintings are his interiors of the Royal Pavilion when it was in use as an Indian hospital and the interior of the Brighton Arts Club c.1930, which portrays many local artists of that period. The latter is currently on display in Brighton Art Gallery.

The Gallery also has seven paintings by Averil and two by his daughter, including a portrait of her father at his easel. Not all the paintings are on display. The family were discussed in an article by Hilary Chapman in the Antique Dealer and Collector's Guide of March 1998.

Charles Burleigh was a member of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters (ROI) and the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours (RI). He exhibited quite widely at their exhibitions and at such venues as the Royal Academy and the Fine Art Society. He seems to have been a  prolific painter throughout his life and, perhaps because of this, many of his works fetch only of the order of £100-£200 at auction.