Paintings of Shere

Before the age of the photograph, the only way of illustrating or describing a village, other than the writen word was through the medium
of paintings. Shere, it has been said, "is one of the prettiest villages in Surrey, often claimed by many as the most beautiful" and not
without reason. It is truly part of England's "garden"
. Quote by T. A. Wilkie (Surrey County Journal)

The following paintings show the village through the ages, painted in various mediums. Copyright remains with the artist, all rights reserved.

Shere Paintings / drawings arranged in Chronological date order...

...starting with oldest first - If you see any paintings that do not appear on this page, please drop me a line. Tristan Greatrex

Quick Links to Years:

1800 - 1899

1900 - 1949

1950 - 1999

2000 - Now

UNKNOWN

1951

SHERE - 1951

Painter: James W Glenn

Medium: Watercolour - Location: Shere

circa 1950s

Village Market, Shere

Painter: Lilian Fendig (IN, 1912-1985)

Medium: Watercolour

Location: The Square

Titled 'Village Market, Shere' was sold at auction for $125 at Liveauctioneers. The painting has to be pre 1966 as Dick and Elaine (Collins green grocers) opened their shop that year. Previously it was Grovers, so my guess is that this painting is circa 1950s. Will try and find more information.

1954 - Margaret Winnifred Tarrant

Taken from 'The Joy Book'

Illustrator: MARGARET TARRANT (1888-1959)

From the late 1900s, Margaret Tarrant was preoccupied with chronicling innocent childhood in its many moods and its great variety of activities.
From 1920, her talents were channelled by her most important business relationship, with the Medici Society, which still publishes her books, cards and calendars today. Though her approach could seem highly idealised, even romanticised, its success lies in the degree to which it was grounded in close observation and the discipline of drawing from life.
Margaret Tarrant was born in Battersea, London and grew up in Margate and Clapham. She was educated at Clapham High School (1898-1905), where she won several prizes for drawing. In 1905 she started to train as an art teacher, but a lack of confidence in her ability to teach led her father, Percy Tarrant, to guide her into his own profession of illustrator. Soon after her move to Guildhall, Surrey, she illustrated her first book, a news edition of Kingsley’s The Water Babies (1908), and, from then on, was preoccupied with chronicling childhood in its many moods, its great variety of activities, and its innocence. Developing her talents through many and varied commissions and through further studies at Heatherley’s (1918, 1921, 1923), she began her most important business relationship only in 1920, with the Medici Society; ranging from books to calendars, Tarrant’s work for Medici gave her wide exposure and made her a much-loved figure throughout the nineteen-twenties and thirties. Following the death of her parents in 1934, she moved to Peaslake and made friends with the artist Molly Brett, whom she met on a course at Guildford School of Art. However, she was able to accept her circumstances and return to painting only in 1936, when the Medici Society sent her to Palestine; from that time, her religious paintings took on a new aspect. She continued to work until 1953, when her health, and particularly her eye-sight, deteriorated. In 1958, she finally let her house in Peaslake, and joined Molly Brett in Cornwall, where, on 28 July 1959, she died.

The Joy Book - Published in 1954

 

 

Cover Introduction

 

Preface

UPDATE: Margaret gets mentioned on a back of a postcard posted 14th April 1948 - Details on the Shere Historic Footbridge page

Victor Joseph Bertoglio

Tudor Cottage - Upper Street

Painter: Victor Joseph Bertoglio (1911-1974)

Medium: Watercolour (24 cm x 17 cm)

Bertoglio exhibited watercolour work at the Royal Academy Exhibition of 1950.

However,he was best known for being a noted book illustrator from the late 1940s through to the early 1970s. He was most prolific during the 1950s decade.

He also worked on the British comic annuals of the 'Eagle' and 'Swift'.

The above written in Pen on the back.

Victor Joseph Bertoglio was born in Hampstead, London on 6th July 1911. The seventh son of Petre Ermengildo Bertoglio, a waiter originally from Milan, and his English wife Helena Isabel, née Brand. Victor was educated at St. Martin's School of Art, and married Edith E. Emery in Islington in 1935. Along with designing Children's annuals, The Eagle and Swift, he also designed book jackets,

including for Mary Stewart's 1964 gothic romance novel This Rough Magic.(see above).

He died in Surrey in 1974 - source

Sample of books illustrated by Victor Bertoglio:

 

Artist Victor J Bertoglio at The National Archives

1957

SHERE, SURREY - 1957

Painter: Jean M. Blair

Medium: Watercolour

Early 1960s

Church Lane, Shere, Surrey

Painter: Edward Wesson (1910-1983)

Dimensions: 
12.99 X 20.08 in (33 X 51 cm)
Medium:  Watercolour

Auction Date: 
Aug 30, 2014


MORE INFORMATION

1966

Winter Trees Shere - 1963

Painter: Edward Wesson (1910-1983)

Medium: Oil - 23.5 x 17"

1966

Winter Trees Shere - Similar date to the previous Edward Wesson painting above

Painter: Edward Wesson (1910-1983)

Medium: Oil - 30" x 24""

View of a Lane at Shere - Same view as the painting above, possibly in Autumn after all the leaves have dropped - SOLD AT AUCTION in 2009

Painter: Edward Wesson (1910-1983)

 

Edward Wesson painting a very similar scene, is this Shere too?

early 1960s

Shere Village - early 1960s

Looking down Gomshall Lane towards the Junction of Upper Street and Middle Street (Bank Terraces on the left and Vine Cottages on the right).

Painter: Edward Wesson (1910-1983)

Medium: Watercolour - 12.5" x 20", (32 x 51cm)

AUCTION DATE:
26th March 2023 at John Nicholson's

VISIT EDWARD WESSON GALLERY

1978

The Post Office Shere, Guildford, Surrey - 1978

Used as the GPO (General Post Office) Poster (810mm x 570mm)

Painter: Martina Selway

Location: Upper/Middle Street

WEBSITE

Denis H Somerfield

THE VILLAGE OF SHERE - Vine Cottage

Painter: Denis H Somerfield

Medium: watercolour

 

pre 1983

Church In A Village Setting

Painter: Edward Wesson (1910-1983)

Dimensions: 40 x 50 cm
Medium: oil on paper & watercolour


Auction Date: 
Aug 30, 2014


MORE INFORMATION

abt 1995 - Christine Scott

Surrey, Shere, St James Church

Painter: Christine Scott

Medium: Watercolour

Location: The Square

1995 - Christine Scott

Kinghams Restaurant, Shere, Surrey

Painter: Christine Scott

Medium: Watercolour

Location: Gomshall Lane