Peace, Old Eldon Square, Newcastle
23rd April is St George’s Day. One of my more unusual paintings of Newcastle is this one of the War Memorial in Old Eldon Square which depicts St George slaying the dragon.
The painting is set against the backdrop of a winter sky, indicating the bleakness of war. The inscription of “Peace” is a sign of the hope of peace which we ought to seek amongst our fellow human beings.
There have been numerous times when folk have looked at the painting and thought it was somewhere like Prague, not realising that it was their home town.
The background buildings are the rooftops of Emerson Chambers, one of the finest examples of Art Nouveau architecture in the UK. One can also see Grey’s Monument, a clue that the scene is Newcastle upon Tyne.
The painting is available in three sizes and can be seen and purchased from alanreed.com
About Alan
British artist Alan Reed, was born in Northumberland, into a family with a history of painting, and fell in love with watercolours at the age of 15.
He trained in art and design at Newcastle College and spent the early part of his career doing artist impressions of new building projects for architects.
Whilst still at college his lecturers started buying his paintings and his first exhibition in the local library was a complete sell out.
Over the last 35 years he has developed his own distinctive painting style that is instantly recognisable. His landscapes and cityscapes and his unique, fluid style captures the atmosphere of different settings from the drama of city life to the serenity and beauty of a rural landscape.
Alan has had many successful exhibitions both in the UK and abroad since 1981, including those at the Mall Galleries in London, Malcolm Innes Gallery in Edinburgh, Italy, USA and the Middle East and has been a regular exhibitor of rowing scenes in the Stewards’ Enclosure at the Henley Royal Regatta.
The quality of Alan’s work received national recognition with the selection of a number of his cityscapes in the Sunday Times watercolour competition for three successive years.
The original watercolour of Jebel Akdar was selected and won “The Artist’S Prize” for the Royal Watercolour Society Exhibition 2013 at the Bankside Gallery in London.
