Reviews and Essays
Chatsworth Reflected 2008 – 2009
Collaborative project between the artist, Chatsworth, and the Hart Gallery
Introduction by the Duke of Devonshire, KCVO, CBE, DL
Lewis Noble in Conversation with John Hart
Where the Sky Touches the Land 2007
THE WEEK FEB 2011 Lewis Noble at The Hart Gallery
Derbyshire’s artist in residence in 2001, Lewis Noble (born 1967) spent 2008-O9 creating a series ofworks depicting the Chatsworth Estate. The current exhibition of small mixed-media and watercolour landscapes done onthe spot, and large canvases worked on in the studio, draws on the landscape of the Peak District where Noble now lives, and the precipitous coastal paths and dark seas of south Cornwall. He seems a notably physical painter – there’s nothing obviously cerebral or conceptual about these works. He’s concernedwith the sensation of being outdoors,alone in the landscape. In works such as Cloud Shadow Falling AcrossFields, Dovedale Wind or Looking Down from Coverack Point, Noble gives a vivid sense of weather: scudding clouds, waves crawling over rocks far below — and, above all, of huge skies with clouds that share equal significance with the rough landscape.
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In recent years Lewis Noble has focused exclusively on painting the landscape. This provides the opportunity to experiment with ‘pure painting’ whilst retaining an essential grounding in observation. Noble’s work draws on the diverse landscapes of Britain, notably the Peak District and Cornwall. Creating clear, defined bodies of work, he explores his chosen subject through changing emotions, movement, light & colour. He describes his work as ‘about the experience of being in the landscape.’
Noble is particularly well known in Derbyshire and was the county’s artist in residence during 2001 as part of theVickers Art Prize, when he produced paintings at four prominent locations around the county including Chatsworth. In 2009 he returned to Chatsworth and spent a year making work in response to the estate.
His work has been exhibited extensively and can now be found in some of Britain’s finest galleries. His paintings are in private and public collections in Britain, Australia and the USA.
