A lovely watercolour painting by Sidney Vale FRSA of Lake Windermere in the Lake District where he spent some time painting the lakes and landscapes.
Vale (1916-1991) was a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and a member of the prestigious Wapping Group of Artists (1946-1991), who were formed to primarily record life in the London Docklands.
'The Wapping Group had its origins in 1939, when members of the Artists Society and the Langham Sketching Club, meeting at the Prospect of Whitby pub in Wapping, decided to spend the summer months sketching together by the river Thames. Then the Second World War intervened, but the same artists met again in 1946 to found the Wapping Group formally. The first President was Jack Merriott.
The maximum number of members was set at twenty-five, and the group was dedicated to painting together outdoors, exhibitions being a secondary consideration. The painting season was to be from April to September as it is today. In early years the group was closely associated with the Port of London Authority, and held its first three annual exhibitions at the PLA headquarters before moving to the Royal Exchange Gallery, where they were held for the next thirty years.
Originally the painting area was concentrated between Westminster and Gravesend, but has steadily widened over the years. Today it ranges from Henley, up-river, through London and out to the Rivers Medway, Crouch and Blackwater.'
Source: www.thewappinggroupofartists.co.uk
