A look back at days long gone 

War dulled artist's dazzling career

"By Public Demand..." reads the poster, and by public demand it certainly is that as part of this year's Newark Town Council Festival there is to be an exhibition of work by one of Newark's best remembered artists, Robert Kiddey (1900-1984).

The exhibition, to be held at the town hall, opens on Monday and runs until August 13.

The centrepiece of the event takes place on Wednesday evening, when there will be a talk and slide show about Kiddey's life and work. Robert Kiddey's nephew, Paul Kiddey, will be present to introduce the proceedings and discuss his uncle's contribution to the arts in Newark.

This will be followed by a pre-recorded tape/slide presentation prepared by Newark Library using images of Kiddey's work from its photographic archive built up over many years.

Many people have fond memories of Robert Kiddey, particularly in connection with the years he spent as a tutor in the art department at Newark Technical College (now Newark and Sherwood College) on Friary Road.

There are still ex-students from the college who remember his distinctive teaching style and who can point out examples of his work around the town: the four carved stone panels on the exterior of the college itself, another on Newark Rowing Club's boathouse at Devon Bridge, and perhaps most impressive of all, his large wood carving, Flight into Egypt, in Southwell Minster. Three further items are also on permanent display in Newark Parish Church - his exquisite war memorial in the south transcept, a large carved African hardwood panel entitled Crucifixion in the north transcept and his Cross of Nails in the Lady Chapel.

This last has recently been transferred to the parish church from St Augustine's Church on Barnby Road. Robert Kiddey was born at Nottingham in 1900 and died at Newark in 1984.

His gift for drawing made itself apparent at an early age and at 14 he was enrolled at the Nottingham School of Art on Waverley Street.

Unfortunately his studies were almost immediately interrupted by the first world war in the latter stages of which he joined up as a private in the Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment of Foot.

On demobilisation Kiddey returned to Nottingham and in the Twenties assisted in carving the frieze of figures around the top of Nottingham's new council house in the Market Square.

His first big solo success came in 1929 when one of his works - a carved panel called: The Divine Tragedy - was accepted for the Royal Academy's annual exhibition in London. (This piece, a study of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, is included in next week's exhibition at Newark Town Hall).

At the time, Kiddey's style and technique were highly praised and three years later The Divine Tragedy launched him into the European art market when it was shown at the Salon des Beaux Arts in Paris.

Things looked all set for a successful future, and in 1931 Kiddey moved to Newark to take up a teaching post at the newly opened Newark Technical College.

He was to remain on the staff of the art department for nearly 50 years. He continued to sculpt in his spare time and to broaden his artistic horizons and began to travel widely.

During college vacations he visited France, Germany, Italy and, perhaps most importantly, the newly communistic USSR. In Yugoslavia he was introduced to the famous sculptor Mestrovic and many of Kiddey's subsequent works show his influence.

The inter-war years were a period of great progress for Kiddey and his reputation grew. Further pieces were accepted by the Royal Academy, and at the Goupil Gallery (also in London) examples of his work were shown alongside pieces by Augustus John, Eric Gill and Picasso. With the outbreak of war in 1939, however, all possibility of exposure abroad was blocked.

The war destroyed the momentum of Kiddey's career, and he was never able to regain the international recognition he had begun to command in the Thirties.

In subsequent years even national success began to elude him, although working alone in his studio in Newark, Kiddey continued to produce an almost unbroken stream of imaginative and innovative pieces.

Using a wide range of media including paint, charcoal, wood and stone, he began to explore many diverse themes from religion to sport.

His pieces often showed a strong influence of Egyptian art combined with an intense interest in texture and pattern.

Abstract conceptions, particularly in painting and three-dimensional sculpture, became the areas which most pre-occupied him towards the end of his life.

Robert Kiddey died in Hawtonville Hospital in June, 1984 when arrangements were already under way for a major retrospective of his work at the Newark Technical College.

The exhibition went ahead as planned and served as a fitting tribute to this most respected teacher, artist and resident of the town - a man, it was once said, who had a touch of genius. Now, 15 years after his death, there is a chance to experience this genius again through the month long exhibition at Newark Town Hall.

A selection of Kiddey's most important sculptures and paintings will be on display with full descriptive panels and catalogue.

The exhibition will be open between 10am and 12 noon, and 2pm and 4pm Mondays to Fridays. Admission is free. The Robert Kiddey evening on Wednesday at 7.30pm is also free, but places are strictly limited.

Anyone interested in attending the Robert Kiddey evening should reserve a place now by collecting a ticket either from Newark Town Council's reception area or from Newark Library.

ABOVE: Self portrait of Robert Kiddey (1900-1984). He is pictured in his studio at 5a King Street, Newark (a former infants' school) where some of his other works (including Flight into Egypt) are depicted in the background. The picture reproduced courtesy of Paul Kiddey.

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