Doing My Homework!

I have been doing my homework! I should explain.

Every couple of weeks I go to the Patchings Farm Arts Centre near Arnold, Nottingham to a water colour painting course. Our task at the last session (continued as homework) was to produce a water colour depicting a scene from Venice and, in particular, a statue that stands there. The subject had been chosen originally by the famous Nottingham artist, Richard Bonington, who was born in Arnold in 1802,  and who sadly died young in 1828. Bonington, visited Venice on numerous occasions and was the son of a Nottingham gaoler and a teacher and was prodigiously talented. In his short life he not only produced wonderful pieces of work but was a major player in the development of water colour painting. He is remembered locally in the Arnold area – a school named after him and  a local theatre and his statue stands outside the Nottingham School of Art, now part of Trent University.

Bartolomeo Colleoni in Venice

Bonington’s water colour depicts a horseman on a plinth in a Venetian Piazza. The horseman is Bartolomeo Colleoni, a fifteenth century nobleman. He was a soldier of fortune and for a time commander of the Venetian army. He owned estates outside the city and apparently did much good work developing agriculture and the lot of his workers. He did many charitable works  and donated a large amount of his wealth to the City on his death. He requested that on his death a statue be erected to commemorate him in St Mark’s Square. However, statues were not allowed in St Mark’s Square so the city fathers did the next best thing and erected the statue of Colleoni sitting proudly astride his horse in the Hospital of St Mark’s adjacent to the square. This was the subject of our (and Bonington’s) water colour!

It set me thinking about the role of statues within towns, cities and villages – to remember, honour, celebrate, brighten, reflect local or national  'heroes'.

I may be wrong but I believe that in recent years things have changed a little in this country. My mental picture of a statue in  a public place is of some important looking Victorian gentleman or soldier or even a monarch. Grand people who have earned their fame in Westminster or on the battlefield.  Of course, I may be wrong and there are clearly exceptions to this – Eros in Piccadilly springs to mind – but none the less it is my perception. But in recent years we appear to have become much more comfortable with celebrating  lesser lives or placing statues for the sheer pleasure of their presence – to brighten the environment.

Don Bradman in Adelaide

Harold Larwood in Kirkby in Ashfield,
Nottinghamshire

A year or two ago I fulfilled a life ambition and visited Australia – and in particular Adelaide. A beautiful city and the jewel in the crown is the Adelaide cricket ground –truly one of the world’s greatest and most beautiful sporting venues. The tour of the ground was an event not to be forgotten – and especially seeing the statue of Don Bradman in a park near the ground –  a place of reverence for cricket lovers the world over. Bradman is in typical batting pose – majestic and graceful – in a beautiful parkland setting. When I came back to England I went to Kirkby In Ashfield, a few miles north of Nottingham, to see the other half of the story – the statue of the great Nottinghamshire and England fast bowler Harold Larwood . Bradman and Larwood had been the main combatants in the infamous 'bodyline'   test series of the early 30s – the most famous game in that never to be forgotten series  being played out at Adelaide.   Larwood’s statue – a wonderful action pose of him delivering his horrifyingly fast bowl stands in the middle of the local shopping centre. In fact on the day I visited it a hot dog stall stood glumly in the rain behind Larwood and windswept fish and chip papers blew around his feet. Not the beauty of the Adelaide setting for Bradman’s statue,  but perhaps Larwood, as a local miner, who loved his roots would have preferred it that way - his statue is amongst the people and the area from which he came not in some grand, remote place.

The Holy Trinity at Old Trafford - Best, Law and Charlton

Bobby Moore at Wembley

On the same theme, it has become fashionable for other sporting heroes to be celebrated with a statue near their places of fame. The wonderful statue of Stanley Matthews which stands outside Stoke City’s ground shows Matthews dribbling past defenders. At Old Trafford there is the 'Holy Trinity' – George Best, Dennis Law and Bobby Charlton – so life like they look almost alive!  The great Bobby Moore is remembered at Wembley – the scene of his greatest triumph – the 1966 World Cup victory. And one of particular resonance for me is that of Tom Finney of my team, Preston North End. The statue at Preston’s ground is known as 'TheSplash' and places Finney sliding through a deep puddle at Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge. I was there that day and remember the scene well – the press photograph became a bit of an icon and the statue has brought the event almost back to life! But, I still find it a bit 'spooky' to see a sculptured representation of a scene I actually witnessed!

Stanley Matthews drifts past defenders
outside Stoke City's Brittania stadium

Tom Finney slides through the water
on a day I still remember

And then there are some other wonderful bits of stone and bronze.
Eric  Morecambe the great comedian – from an age when comedians were actually funny rather than pedlars of crude humour and foul language –  he stands on the sea front in Morecambe. Or, Captain Mainwaring of 'Dad’s Army' fame – the actor Arthur Lowe sits on a bench in Thetford, where the programme was filmed over many years.  Or what about here in Nottingham – 'Old Big Ed' – Brian Clough. He stands proudly looking out over the Market Square, hands clasped over his head in typical fashion. Some years ago, my wife and I visited St Petersburg. Our Russian was nil and we sat one bitterly cold day sipping coffee in a cafe at the Tsar’s Winter Palace.    A young waiter came across and in halting English asked where we came from. When we said Nottingham – not expecting him to know where it was or understand – his eyes immediately lit up and he beamed back 'Ah Brian Clough'.  'Old Big Ed' would have liked that! And finally, at the Eurostar rail terminal at St Pancras the wonderful poet John Betjeman – the ultimate pairing with Betjamen’s love of great buildings and rail travel – he must be sitting looking down feeling quite happy as his statue gazes out on the travellers.

Brian Clough looks out over
Nottingham's Market Square

Eric Morecambe makes everyone smile

John Betjeman views his beloved St Pancras

Captain Mainwaring keeps everyone in order
 in Thetford!

Just before Christmas we had a short break in Berlin. The German’s, I think, have always loved their statues. Go to any German town or village and you will surely see several – groups of people, fairy tale characters and the like. In the narrow streets of Berlin’s  old town we came across several groups – not famous Germans but just well known 'locals' from the past. They made us smile and gave a cold day a little warmth – surely what art of any kind should do!

Karl Marx and Frederich Engels remembered
in Berlin's Old Quarter 

A local gent from the
past in
Berlin's Old Quarter

There are two others I would mention – on opposite sides of the world but with a common bond. One I have not seen – but would love to, if only as an act of homage. The Glenn Gould statue in Toronto I have seen only photographs of. Gould, the greatest exponent of the piano music of JS Bach, was a Canadian and for people like me who love pieces like the Goldberg Variation or the 48 Preludes and Fugues  he represents almost god like qualities! And on the other side of the world – in Leipzig – the statue of Bach  outside his place of work, the Thomaskirche. A traditional 'Victorian' statue, this but again a place of reverence and worship for Bach aficionados. Flowers are placed daily at the base of the statue and each time I stand in front of it a lump comes to my throat – again, I suppose, what all good art should do  have an emotional impact!

Glenn Gould sits on the Toronto pavement

JS Bach stands tall outside his Church

I don’t know if I am correct in my belief that statues are becoming more reflective of wider society than in previous years. Nor am I an expert in works of sculpture.  I can appreciate the skill involved in carving or moulding a statue but I'm  not sure that I know what constitutes 'good art'.   Perhaps to the purist these are no more than 'gimmicks' - but I like them  - they bring a smile and in a world where the headlines seem to be dominated by violence, war, poverty and the like, they perhaps remind us of some of the pleasanter aspects of life - people who have made us smile, sportsmen who have excited us, local eccentrics, musicians and the like - and for me that must be good.

Fewer Kings, Queens, generals, politicians and more sportsmen, entertainers or local heroes. I’m not saying that is a good thing or a bad. However, I can’t escape the feeling that I’d prefer to commemorate and look at a statue of Brian Clough or Bach to one of Bomber Harris a man largely responsible for the carpet bombing and firestorms of the Dresden and Leipzig areas at the end of the last war. But of course, many might disagree with me on that.