George Rowlett: Mer de Glace (courtesy Art Space Gallery, London)

The painter George Rowlett (born in 1941) is renowned for his landscape paintings – always made on the spot – using bold impasto, powerfully evoking a sense of place through strong colour and elemental composition. As Mark Glazebrook has written: “his landscapes make their presence felt not only as lively, original and imaginative renderings … but also as weighty, tactile physical objects.”

This exhibition of new work, brought from the Art Space Gallery in London (Michael Richardson Contemporary Art), comprises landscapes made on journeys in John Ruskin’s footsteps, in both the Alps and the Lake District. Many were painted in and around Brantwood, Coniston, where Ruskin spent the last thirty years of his life. Some of the Alpine scenes, such as the Mer de Glace and Glacier des Bossons at Chamonix, have been inspired by Ruskin watercolours from the collection of the Alpine Club in London, which will also form part of the display.