Ralph Hedley (31 December 1848 – 14 June 1913) was a realist painter, woodcarver and illustrator, best known for his paintings portraying scenes of everyday life in the North East of England.

Biography

Born in Gilling West near Richmond, North Yorkshire, Ralph and his parents Richard and Anne Hedley moved to Newcastle upon Tyne around 1850, on the wave of industrial opportunity. Aged about 13, he was apprenticed to Thomas Tweedy in his carving workshops, simultaneously studying art and design at the 'Government school' in Newcastle, and attending evening classes at the Life School under

William Bell Scott William Bell Scott (1811–1890) was a Scottish artist in oils and watercolour and occasionally printmaking. He was also a poet and art teacher, and his posthumously published reminiscences give a chatty and often vivid picture of life in the ...

. At the age of 14 he was awarded a bronze medal by government's Department of Art and Science. After concluding his apprenticeship, Hedley established a successful woodcarving business, whilst also producing lithographs for the local press and taking every opportunity to work as an artist. He had the first of many paintings, ''The Newsboy'', accepted for exhibition at the Royal Academy in 1879. Joining with Henry Hetherington Emmerson and

Robert Jobling Robert Jobling (1841–1923) was a British artist. He first had work accepted by both the Royal Academy and Royal Society of British Artists in 1883. He painted regularly at the fishing village of Cullercoats and later at Staithes. He attained ...

, they founded the Bewick Club which encouraged and exhibited the work of the local artists of the North East, staging the first exhibition in 1884. Examples of his wood carving work can be found in The Cathedral Church of St Nicholas, Newcastle, where, between 1882 and 1889, he and his workshop carved the choir and rood screen for the scheme by architect Robert James Johnson (1832–1892), commissioned when the Diocese of Newcastle was founded and Newcastle upon Tyne became a City. Other carving work can be seen in St Andrew's Church, Newcastle upon Tyne and many other North Eastern churches.

Career

He was a member of the

Royal Society of British Artists The Royal Society of British Artists (RBA) is a British art body established in 1823 as the Society of British Artists, as an alternative to the Royal Academy. History The RBA commenced with twenty-seven members, and took until 1876 to reach fif ...

, and had more than fifty of his paintings displayed at the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...

between 1879 and 1904. He became President of the Bewick Club and was Vice-President of the

South Shields South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. Historically, it was known in Roman times as Arbeia, and as Caer Urfa by Early Middle Ages. According to the 20 ...

Art Club. Today, Hedley's paintings are appreciated for the record they provide of everyday life in Tyneside in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Even at the time of Hedley's death in June 1913, the ''Newcastle Daily Chronicle'' recognised the value of his work, arguing that "What Burns did for the peasantry of Scotland with his pen, Ralph Hedley with his brush and palette had done for the Northumberland miner and labouring man." A number of Hedley's works, including ''Cat in a Cottage Window'', ''Last in Market'' and 'Going Home' are known throughout the world, many of them reproduced as popular prints. In March 2004, ''The Tournament'', depicting a group of boys having a piggy-back fight, sold for £44,000 - a record for a Hedley painting at auction. Hedley is the amongst the most recent Newcastle figures to be honoured by the city's Commemorative Plaque Scheme. The plaque was unveiled by the Lord Mayor, Councillor George Douglas, on Monday 29 November 2004, at 19 Belle Grove Terrace in

Spital Tongues Spital Tongues is a district of Newcastle upon Tyne, located due north-west of the Newcastle City Centre. Its unusual name is believed to be derived from ''spital'' – a corruption of the word ''hospital'', commonly found in British place names ...

, where Hedley lived from 1885 until his death in 1913. The property now forms part of the Belle Grove public house. Guests attending the unveiling included relatives of Hedley, and Julie Milne, the curator of the Laing Art Gallery. The Laing holds one of the largest bodies of Hedley's work, including 41 oil paintings and three watercolours, and a major exhibition devoted to Hedley in 1990. A book on Hedley's life and times was published in association with that exhibition.''Ralph Hedley - Tyneside Painter'' by John Millard, Tyne and Wear Museums, Newcastle-on-Tyne 1990. As part of the Festival of the North East, 2013, an exhibition of his work held in local public collections was shown at the Shipley Art Gallery, Gateshead,VIP visitors help to sing praises of artist Ralph Hedley
''www.thejournal.co.uk'', accessed 16 December 2019 and a small group of works from private and public collections was shown at the Hartlepool Art Gallery. To mark the centenary of his death, Ralph Hedley was honoured by a choral evensong held at The Cathedral Church of St Nicholas on 14 June 2013, conducted by the Dean, the Very Revd Christopher Dalliston, and with the Newcastle Cathedral Choir.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hedley, Ralph 1848 births 1913 deaths 19th-century English painters English male painters 20th-century English painters Landscape artists Artists from Newcastle upon Tyne British Realist painters People from Richmond, North Yorkshire Members of the Royal Society of British Artists 20th-century English male artists 19th-century English male artists

Biography

Career

See also

References

External links