Maurice Sheppard
PPRWS
CHRISTOPHER WOOD GALLERY
A MEMBER OF THE MALLETT GROUP
MAURICE SHEPPARD PPRWS LANDSCAPE PAINTINGS
3rd OCTOBER - 20th OCTOBER 1989
It is sometimes said that the flowering of British 20th Century art is strengthened by the strong tradition of figurative art that has continued throughout the century unlike many other countries in the Western world. The vitality of this art form of observed and at least partially naturalistic painting has continued uninterrupted since the beginning of the century. If Paul Nash was an experimentalist his brother John was equally adventurous within the the parameters of observation and unqualified sincerity of expression. In my view both are of equal importance in the history of painting in this country.
Maurice Sheppard's work derives from this and other sources, and his meticulous concern with particularities of observed naturalism make his work a valued alternative to expressionist forms which at times seem like overblown generalisations. It is sometimes supposed that originality of vision is only discernible in an individualisticly expressive form. Maurice Sheppard has rather a uniqueness of vision which makes real to the spectator a multiplication of acts of observation embalmed in a luminous atmosphere which is neither real nor invented but essentially his own.
SIR ROGER DE GREY PRA July 1989
Maurice Sheppard knew from his student days the path that his painting should take. His inspiration came from the great painting of the last century and from nature. That is not to say that he closed his eyes to what was going on amongst his contemporaries, for some of whom he had real admiration but many of the art movements seemed sterile to him.
He has been best known in the past as a watercolour painter but this exhibition shows him as even more masterly in the handling of oils. The subject matter too has surprises for not only are there pictures of his native Wales and of Kent but also a series of pictures of Normandy which shows the artist at his best.
PROF CAREL WEIGHT CH CBE RA July 1989