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Tuesday 2pm - 5pm Thursday 2pm - 5pm Friday 2pm - 5pm Saturday 11am - 5pm Sunday 2:15pm - 5pm

The Fry Art Gallery

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The Fry Art Gallery

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The official page of The Fry Art Gallery, Saffron Walden

The Fry Art Gallery is housed in a Victorian Gentleman's Gallery of two main rooms built in 1856 for the Quaker banker Francis Gibson. In 1985 it was taken over by the Fry Art Gallery Society, a charity set up to create the North West Essex Collection of work by artists of the locality. The focus is primarily on the remarkable group of painters and printmakers who settled in nearby Great Bardfield from the 1930s to the 1970s, and which included Edward Bawden and Eric Ravilious, John Aldridge, Michael Rothenstein and Kenneth Rowntree. The Fry's permanant collection is now a considerable resource, and in addition the gallery mounts regular tempory displays to broaden its appeal. For full details and to view the collection visit www.fryartgallery.org
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18/10/2026

Just a week to see our two current exhibitions:

Fry’s Popular Delights - an exuberant celebration of the best of the North West Essex collection (with some wonderful additional works on loan) curated by Colin Wilkin and Mark Hearld.

Olga Lehmann: A Versatile and Vivacious Artist - the artist’s six decade career as a painter, muralist, graphic and stage designer is explored in our Gibson Room curation by Mo Johnston and Amanda Stone.

Two acclaimed shows not to be missed!

Images: Tea at Furlongs, watercolour, by Eric Ravilious; illustration for poetry by Carl Huson, scraper board design by Olga Lehmann

16/10/2026

Our work of the month is The Corn Stook, oil on canvas, 1946, by John Aldridge, RA (1905 – 1983). We already suspected that the Gallery’s reputation extends well beyond NorthwestEssex. But we were nevertheless surprised and delighted in July when Jessica Hope, who lives near Philadelphia in the USA, contacted us with an offer we couldn’trefuse – 5 pictures by John Aldridge. The works were acquired by Jessica’s late father Warren T. Hope, whose interest in Aldridgesprung from his research into the life and work of the English poet Norman Cameron. Aldridge and Cameron both moved in the circle of Robert Graves in Mallorca and became friends. Aldridge eventually married Cameron’s widow Gretl.
This seasonal corn stook was probably painted en plein air in the fields near Great Bardfield, and was exhibited at the Leicester Galleries in August 1946.
Picture kindly donated by Jessica Hope, Furlong PA.

09/10/2026

We're counting down to this year's Annual Exhibition and Sale on 14 and 15 November!
Our eagerly awaited Annual Sale is our most important fundraising event. We are particularly excited by some of the new artists who will be exhibiting with us this year for the first time. These include: Dylan Bowen, Tabby Booth, Emma Carlow, Eleanor Pritchard, and Nancy Rose Taplin.
In addition, we will have work by regular artists; Edward Bawden, Richard Bawden, Mark Hearld, Tessa Newcomb, Angie Lewin and Chloe Cheese amongst many others. As usual, we expect to have in the region of 400 framed and unframed works from around 45 different artists for purchasers to choose from.
We look forward to welcoming you to this popular event on Saturday 14 November when doors will open to the public from noon. Although it can be very busy at opening time, the sale continues over the whole weekend until 4pm on Sunday 15 November. With such a large number of works available from so many artists, there will be plenty of choice for purchasers throughout the weekend.
Look out for more posts closer to the sale weekend when we share some exciting preview pieces.
Image: this year's private view invitation design by Hugh Ribbans

07/10/2026

Last Friday the Gallery hosted a very special event. The Pollock's Players - Alan Powers, David Powell and Debbie Radclife - performed The Corsican Brothers for a small audience of guests who were completely charmed by the show.
The play is based on a novel by Alexandre Dumas the elder, adapted for the stage in 1852 by Dion Boucicault.
The script was published for the toy theatre by J K Green two years later, a rare adaptation of a new play for the medium in this period. Set in Corsica and Paris, it was a huge success and performed widely.
Toy Theatre is well represented in our current exhibition, Fry's Popular Delights, which features many examples. This is not a coincidence as Eric Ravilious and Edward Bawden visited Benjamin Pollock's shop in Hoxton Street when they were students at the Royal College of Art and Toy Theatre material is seen in Tirzah Garwood's scrapbooks.
Alan Powers has a long involvement with the Gallery, including co-curating our 2025 Bardfield Murals exhibition. His association with Pollock's Toy Museum in London is even longer. Alan is the current Chair of Trustees, and David Powell, also a trustee, is an acknowledged expert on the history of toy theatre. For more information about Pollock's Toy Museum's activities, performances and aspirations, do visit www.pollockstoymuseum.co.uk

28/09/2026

One day event: card making workshop with Chloe Cheese
Saturday 31st October 10.30 am – 4.30 pm
Cost £90, bookable in the Shop section of our website: fryartgallery.org
Venue: The United Reformed Church Hall, Abbey Lane, Saffron Walden, CB10 1AG
Chloë will share her own techniques, combining stencil printing, collage and drawing. We will look at The Fry Art Gallery’s extensive archive of cards made by artists. Chloë has kept up the tradition she started as a child growing up in Great Bardfield where the artists made cards for their friends and neighbours. You should go home with a minimum of three completed cards and brimming with ideas!
Plenty of free parking at the venue. Refreshments provided. Please bring a packed lunch, wear old clothes, bring an apron.

21/09/2026

Just 8 places left for Friday evening's talk (7.30pm) with Olga Lehmann's biographer, and exhibition co-curator, Amanda Stone.
Tickets are £6 via our website. See you at the Gallery, 19a Castle Street Saffron Walden for fresh insights into this lesser known artist's fascinating life and work.
Images: Apollo and Daphne, Orpheus and Eurydice (gouache, undated)

13/09/2026

Our work of the month is this pen, ink & watercolour sketch by Eric Ravilious, 1932. Eric addressed this envelope to ‘Miss Charlotte Epton’, on her arrival at Brick House, Great Bardfield, as the future wife of Edward Bawden. Eric and Edward were at the time renting part of the house from the eccentric Mrs Kinnear, with whom they shared the kitchen and scullery. When Edward and Charlotte Epton were married in March 1932, Edward’s father bought the house for them as a wedding present. They lived there until Charlotte’s death in 1970. Eric and his wife Tirzah Garwood initially shared the house with the Bawdens, before moving to Castle Hedingham in 1934.
This charming improvised ‘Welcome to Brick House’ card on a recycled British Museum envelope was made by Eric for Charlotte, and features in our current exhibition ‘Fry’s Popular Delights’ until Sunday 25th October.
Work on long term loan from a private collection.

08/09/2026

Join us for a talk by Amanda Stone
Friday 25th September 2026 at 7.30pm
Venue: The Fry Art Gallery, 19a Castle Street, Saffron Walden CB10 1BD
To accompany the exhibition Olga Lehmann – a versatile and vivacious artist, her biographer and co-curator of the exhibition Amanda Stone will give a talk about this fascinating artist’s life and work. The venue for the talk is the gallery, so guests will also have the opportunity to enjoy the exhibition. Due to the limitations of space in the gallery, we are offering 30 tickets only.
Tickets £6.00 via our website.

07/09/2026

This luminous portrait of British-French actor Yvonne Furneaux (1926-2024) may be small in size but is exceptionally eye catching. Furneaux was cast as Marie to Errol Flynn's Black Prince in the 1954 film 'The Dark Avenger' and this portrait certainly captures her delicate beauty and the glamour of a bygone cinematic era. You can see the study of Yvonne in our exhibition 'Olga Lehmann: a Versatile and Vivacious Artist' with many other examples of the artist's work, which deserve to be better known. The exhibition runs until 25 October

29/08/2026

If your Bank Holiday diary is not yet full why not drop in to see our two current exhibitions - Fry's Popular Delights and Olga Lehmann: a Versatile and Vivacious Artist. Each curation features some of the best work in the North West Essex Collection, as well as some exciting pieces on loan. See you soon!

Address

Castle Street
Saffron Walden
CB101BD

Opening Hours

Tuesday	2pm - 5pm
Thursday	2pm - 5pm
Friday	2pm - 5pm
Saturday	11am - 5pm
Sunday	2:15pm - 5pm

Telephone

+441799513779

Website

http://www.fryartgallery.org/

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