Jean Rees (1914–2004) was a British

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, th ...

. She dedicated the later part of her life to promoting the visual arts in the West of England. A highly accomplished landscape artist in her own right, exhibited at the

Royal West of England Academy The Royal West of England Academy (RWA) is Bristol's oldest art gallery, located in Clifton, Bristol, near the junction of Queens Road and Whiteladies Road. Situated in a Grade 2* listed building, it hosts five galleries and an exhibition program ...

(RWA), the

Royal Academy of Arts 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 purpo ...

, The

Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours The Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours (RI), initially called the New Society of Painters in Water Colours, is one of the societies in the Federation of British Artists, based in the Mall Galleries in London. History In 1831 the so ...

, the Medici Gallery, Penwith Gallery, Newlyn Gallery and many others, she is noted for her distinctive, abstractive approach to colour, light and form inspired by the landscapes of the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

and the western counties of

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

and

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

. Jean Rees (née Jean Lamb) commenced her career by obtaining a National Diploma in Textile Design from the

Hastings School of Art The Hastings School of Art was an art school in Hastings, England, located at the Brassey Institute on the top two floors of the library building at Claremont. Background and history This applies to Hastings College of Art in Hastings Nebraska ...

Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...

, East Sussex. Upon completion of this course she embarked on a four-year Open Scholarship with the Royal College of Art but, in 1935, married Glyndwr Rees, moved with him to Somerset and spent the next few years in freelance textile design while raising three children. In 1946 she co-founded the Bridgwater Arts Centre and later became its Chairman. This was an important post-war mile-stone for it was Britain's first art centre, funded by the Arts Council for many years. She was a founder member of the Chandos Society of Artists, later becoming Chairman, and also chaired Artists 303. In 1988 she was elected to the committee of the

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

and in 1989 was voted Artist's Chairman, holding this position for 3 years. During her tenure she curated two important exhibitions: the acclaimed "Scottish Art in the 20th Century" and "Painters from Cornwall", which marked a time of significant change for RWA. Shortly before her death she was made an Honorary Academician for her services to the RWA. Her paintings are in the permanent collections of the RWA, University of Bath,

Somerset County Council Somerset County Council is the county council of Somerset in the South West of England, an elected local government authority responsible for the most significant local government services in most of the county. On 1 April 2023 the county counc ...

and in private collections in Europe, USA and Canada. A retrospective exhibition entitled "A Vision of Landscape and Light: Jean Rees Hon RWA 1914 - 2004" was staged at Bridgwater Arts Centre and

during 2006, receiving enthusiastic praise from several hundred visitors. The exhibition was accompanied by an illustrated biography which is available on request. Her son Jeremy Rees, founded the Arnolfini in Bristol in 1961.

References

External links

*https://web.archive.org/web/20050414054552/http://www.rwa.org.uk/rees.htm *https://web.archive.org/web/20070930023606/http://www.artists303.co.uk/artist_jean.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Rees, Jean 1914 births 2004 deaths 20th-century English painters 21st-century English painters Landscape artists English contemporary artists British contemporary artists