Abbie Griffiths, Alice Wilson, Brigid Vidier, Cassie Vaughan, Chantal Powell, Chip Coates, Dan Howard-Birt, Phil King, Phillip King, David Auborn, Dominic Beattie, Eleanor Rodwell, Ella Kruglyanskaya, Ella Wright, Enzo Marra, George Little, Anna Liber Lewis, Grant Watson, Harry Kincade, Helen Barff, Henry Moore, Joel Ely, Kelly Worman, Lee Johnson, Leon Kossoff, Min Angel, Miranda Pissarides, Nicky Hirst, Paul Cole, Poppy Whatmore, Pushka, Ralph Anderson, Scott McCracken, Tim Garwood, Tony Benn, Verity Woolley, Zebedee Jones
Curated by Lee Johnson.
Thames-Side Studios Gallery are honoured to host a selection of works from the prominent collection of Lady Victoria Beecham.
A diligent collector for over 40 years, Lady Victoria has carefully crafted a very personal collection of paintings and sculptures that touch on many different themes and approaches. Curiously, the unifying aspect of Lady Victoria’s collection has rather unique origins. Growing up in a household with many paintings and sculptures collected by her father, Sir Anthony Beecham, through his close friendships with established artists (he was a trustee at a number of museums in London), Lady Victoria was once so jealous of her father’s love and attention afforded to his prized Rodin that one evening she simply pushed it onto the polished wooden floor, sending plaster fragments to all four corners of the room. Immediately gripped by both fear and shame, the young Lady Victoria attempted to glue the pieces back together.
Returning home after yet another museum dinner, Sir Anthony stared open-mouthed at the object that once held such beauty. However, he quickly realised that he ought to shoulder the blame, for it was through neglecting his daughter that the distorted grotesquery now sat before him. From that very moment he insisted they began collecting together, forging a deep bond between father and daughter, and where Lady Victoria - like a child rescuing an injured bird - sought out the vulnerable and deeply human works of emerging as well as established artists.
The result, as you can see in this first ever exhibition of her collection, is a group of fragile, tender objects and paintings of heartfelt emotional heft that celebrates a father and daughter’s love. Sadly it was a love cut tragically short only ten years later by Sir Anthony’s sudden death aged 56.
Lady Victoria continues to collect to this day in memory of her beloved father.
