Emery Prize: Deshna Shah
30 April – 15 May 2022
Saturdays & Sundays 11am – 4pm
Jean Jones: In Dialogue with Modern British Painting Pembroke College JCR Art Collection are delighted to partner with the Jean Jones Estate to present a new exhibition, Jean Jones: In Dialogue with Modern British Painting. Jones (1927 – 2012), was an English painter who depicted her local surroundings in Oxford, Dartmoor, and London’s Primrose Hill. Her practice, defined by the close observation of the subject in front of her and the use of vivid post-impressionist colour, was designed to express her closeness to, and aesthetic wonder at, the people and places around her.
This exhibition seeks to reintroduce Oxford to Jean Jones’ vibrant, expressive and poetic landscapes, portraits, still-lifes and self-portraits, whilst positioning her amongst the fabric of Oxford’s notable post-war artistic history. Displayed in dialogue with key works from the Pembroke College JCR Art Collection, the exhibition endeavours to interweave Jones’s artwork into the canon of post-war British art, exploring her artistic influences, subjects and techniques. Alongside a myriad of works by Jones, the exhibition will feature works from our collection by artists including Paul Nash, Patrick Heron, Mary Fedden and John Piper.
It has been just over 40 years since her landmark solo exhibition at the world-renowned Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, so it is fitting that her artwork returns to the city once more. The presentation of Jones’ work in Oxford will mark a return to the city where she spent the majority of her life. It was here that Jones became close friends with notable writers and academics, such as J.R.R. Tolkien, William Golding, and Iris Murdoch, the latter of whom predicted that Jones would “one day be as famous as Van Gogh”.
You can find out more about the exhibition on our website: www.pembrokejcrart.org
You can find out more about Jean Jones the Estate’s website: www.jeanjonesestate.com