The Fosse Gallery - British Art, Contemporary British Artists


History
2010 is the Fosse Gallery’s 30th anniversary year. Still in its splendid original location in the Manor House on the Square, Stow on the Wold - no privately run art gallery in the Cotswolds has been established in the same place for longer - it is often described as one of the most important outside London. Founded by Gerard O’Farrell and Brian Sinfield in 1980, the gallery began by selling Victorian watercolours before establishing its reputation in the Modern British field. By the mid 1980s a great partnership had been established between Don Steyn and Gerard O’Farrell. A magnet for artists, dealers and art lovers alike, the Fosse became a meeting place for people from all over the British Isles and far beyond. Don and Gerry staged many important and memorable exhibitions, a great tradition that the gallery continues to uphold in 2010. Augustus John, OM RA, Dame Laura Knight, RA, Alberto Morocco, RSA, Dorothea Sharp, Ruskin Spear, RA, Mary Fedden, OBE RA, Dame Elizabeth Frink, RA, John Piper, CH, Carel Weight, CBE RA and L.S. Lowry are just some of the distinguished artists who have exhibited or been exhibited here.	In 1998 the present owner Sharon Wheaton joined the Fosse Gallery, working closely with Don Steyn right up to his retirement in 2006. “I knew right from the beginning that the organisation of the annual exhibition programme was paramount. I have always felt a huge respect and admiration for the senior artist. A lifetime of energy and dedication to making pictures seems at times almost spiritual. At the same time, I am committed to discovering and encouraging certain young artists at the threshold of their careers – ‘young’ in painting terms is of course relative. It also has been my privilege to stage retrospective exhibitions and to handle the estates of artists who, though no longer with us, were fondly connected to the gallery. Among them are Donald McIntyre, RCA, and Norman Hepple, Frederick Gore, Middleton Todd, William Gear and Richard Eurich, all RAs.	It is immensely satisfying that through the shows I am able to introduce gallery work both to casual browsers and to people who connect with the art and often become friends and patrons of the gallery. My ambitions for the Fosse are very straightforward: To support and celebrate narrative/figurative art. To encourage the artists and promote their work. To present a focused, wide ranging and exciting exhibition programme. To continue to develop the synergy between all of us, artists, gallery and audience.”