A Retrospective: Paintings by Dorothy Bradford

About

Rhythm and movement were central to the art of Dorothy Bradford. Her favourite subjects were musicians, ballet dancers, and horses and riders; even the pigeons swooping and fluttering about below her studio window. Her reputation, particularly as a painter of musicians and conductors, grew rapidly as she accepted an increasing number of invitations to observe and record musicians at work. In 1971 she was the official artist to the New Philharmonia orchestra on tour in the US, and in 1975 she performed the same function for the Leeds international pianoforte competition. The outstanding musicians and groups portrayed by Bradford included Sir Charles Groves, Maxim Shostakovich, countertenor James Bowman, pianist Rosalyn Tureck, composer John McCabe, lutenist Robert Spencer, Ida Carroll, principal of the then Northern School of Music, and the Amadeus and Allegri string quartets. There were also many drawings, made during rehearsals at the Sadler's Wells theatre, north London, of dancers, including Frederick Ashton,Margot Fonteyn and Robert Helpmann. Dorothy saw many parallels between painting and music, not least the close connections between colour and sound. Exhibition organised in collaboration with Kentmere House Gallery, York.