Mary Newcomb: Drawing from Observation

On New Year's Day 1986, encouraged by Andras Kalman, artist Mary Newcomb, then aged 64, began to keep a diary. She wrote in its opening pages:

'I wanted … to remind ourselves that - in our haste - in this century - we may not give time to pause and look - and may pass on our way unheeding'.

This exhibition coincides with a beautiful new book, compiled by the artist's daughter and grandson with an introduction by William Packer. It reveals Mary Newcomb as an acute observer of her surroundings, reproducing her copious sketches alongside more finished paintings and short diary extracts to draw out the many themes which preoccupied her throughout her career as an artist.