The Leeds Picture Library Visit

We had a wonderful time at Leeds Art Gallery on Friday selecting our first five art works! The children settled on five very colourful and very different pieces that we are excited to share with our families.

The first is a screenprint titled Regentag on the Waves of Love, a screenprint by Austrian artist and designer Friedensreich Hundertwasser (1928-2000). The children were all drawn to this piece, describing it as a boat on a colourful sea with a sparkly sky. Hundertwasser’s piece is currently on display in reception for our families to view as they come in and out of the Centre!

Our second piece is another screenprint by an artist named Gary Sargent entitled Docks, immediately drawing the interest of one of our children who likened it to a pirate ship!

Our last screenprint is by artists P & B Sladen, a beautifully colourful depiction of a pear tree titled Pear Tree I. This was one of the first pieces the children selected, in part because of the bright colours, and they saw all sorts of different things in this image, ranging from a tree to a “claw”!

The fourth art work the children selected is Untitled by Roger Gardner, an abstract piece consisting of lots of different shapes and lines in eye-catching colours and created with bodycolour and graphite. The children picked out the blue triangle in particular, and sang the rainbow song when we asked them what they thought the piece looked like.

Lastly, the children were unanimous in picking a lino-cut by John S. Hawley entitled Summer Garden which sparked a great deal of conversation among them. One child saw a house and leaves, describing the scene as “hot” and “orange”, and another spotted a circus, telling the staff that “there are animals inside”.

We are so delighted with the art that our three art ambassadors selected and hope to find out more about the artists over the next few months! Keep an eye out for our other pieces dotted around the Centre once we select new homes for them!