Valerie Thornton R.E. 1931 – 1991

I started this blog as a tribute to Valerie Thornton, who died in 1991. I have been collecting her works since 1979 and I am still awed by her techniques and compositions. This blog has involved considerable work and it would be appreciated if viewers who visited the site left a message via the link at the end of the blog to give me some idea if I have wasted my time or if it is of value to Thornton collectors and enthusiasts. You will also find my contact details there, thank you.

Valerie Thornton was a British artist specialising in etching with aquatint. The breadth of her etching skills is under appreciated. It goes from abstracts to factual, from architectural to nature. People are generally only aware of her ecclesiastical works, but it is far more than that. I have a collection of 135 of her prints and 14 sketches, woodcuts, lino prints, watercolours and 1 oil. They are beautiful and inspiring.

Valerie Thornton a Suffolk-based etcher and print-maker was born in London in 1931 and initially attended Elinor Birley’s Primary School, Charterhouse, before being evacuated to Montreal, Canada with her two brothers during the Second World War. Returned to London in 1944 to continue her education and began art school training at the Byam Shaw School of Drawing and Painting (1949), later qualifying at Regent Street Polytechnic under P F Millard.

She became attracted to the work of Winifred Nicholson after receiving one of her paintings as a 21st birthday present. During this period, she began her long love affair with architecture, after visiting a photographic exhibition featuring details of church buildings. She also became interested in the work of English romantics such as Stanley Spencer and Graham Sutherland. Equally influential was S.W. Hayter’s film about the revolutionary etching work being done at his Atelier 17 workshop in Paris, which led her to undertake an eight-month residency with Hayter in Paris (1954). On her return to England she immediately purchased her first etching press.

After a six-week grand tour of Italy (1955), studying and drawing, she succeeded Howard Hodgkin as Assistant Art Teacher at Charterhouse School. She also began her long association with Cedric Morris and Arthur Lett-Haines’s East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing at Benton End, Hadleigh. There she met Rosemary Rutherford, the stained glass artist whom she later accompanied on many subsequent trips to Paris. In 1956 she was invited by Michael Chase to exhibit in his ‘New Editions’ original print exhibitions at the Zwemmer Gallery (with Edward Bawden, John Piper, Julian Trevelyan, Merlyn Evans, Bernard Cheese and others). This was followed by publication of her prints by Paul Cornwall-Jones of Editions Alecto. Sales of her work supported her during a ten month residency at the Pratt Graphic Art Center Workshop in New York and also funded a study trip to Mexico. Her time in Mexico led her to experiment with woodcuts as well as etchings.

In 1965 she became a founder member of the Printmakers’ Council and received an invitation to visit Winifred Nicholson at her home in Cumbria and this was to become the start of an enduring friendship. Thornton moved to the Minories in Colchester in 1966, after marrying Michael Chase, who had been appointed curator there. In 1969 she was invited to become an Associate of the Royal Society of Painter/Etchers and Engravers. The following year was made a Fellow, and began exhibiting regularly at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. In 1974 Chase and Thornton settled in Chelsworth, West Sussex; thereafter followed regular summer working trips to Spain, France and Italy in search of Romanesque material for her etchings. In 1990, shortly before her death, Thornton was Interviewed on Third Ear, BBC Radio 3, with Dr Judith Collins of the Tate Gallery.

Her work is featured in many public collections, including The British Museum; The Tate Gallery; Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge; The National Gallery, Ottawa; The Metropolitan Museum, New York; The New York Public Library; Warwick University Art Centre and the Ashmolean, Oxford.

Exhibitions Include:

1960 The Minories, Colchester; 1961 Bear Lane Gallery, Oxford Print Club, Philadelphia; 1965 Zwemmer Gallery, London (also 1970, 1981, 1982 and 1984); 1973 Old Fire Engine House, Ely; 1974 The Minories, Colchester Patterns of Stone and Brick; 1975 Oxford Gallery, Oxford (also 1981); 1976 Bruton Gallery, Bruton; 1977 Touring exhibition: Faces of Stone; 1980 Gilbert Parr Gallery, London; 1982 Touring exhibition: Faces of Stone II; 1985 Touring exhibition: Two Journeys with Michael Chase; 1990 Albemarle Gallery, London; 1992 The Redfern Gallery, London, a retrospective; 1994 The Ashmolean Museum, Oxford – Valerie Thornton RE 1931 – 1991 A Retrospective; 2004 The Redfern Gallery, London – Prints and Drawings;

She died in 1991.

In the following pages I will show my collection in a chronological order, as it stood in October 2017, so that the viewer can see how her style changed through her career. Research has not been able to determine the exact number of prints she made, but it is estimated they number around 350.

May 2018. I have purchased another 4 prints for the collection, 3 of them woodcuts. 1) Cathedral, San Francisco, Mexico 1965; 2) Self Portrait, San Cristobal, Mexico 1965; 3) St Mark’s Library 1965; 4) Stones 1959. They need some TLC so I will post temporary photos of them until I get them cleaned up.

July 2018 and I have purchased my earliest print Scabious dated 1954, wonderful details of a scabious flower head, this is an artists proof and I have seen it in various forms including with an pale orange centre portion.

August 2018. Whilst looking through my collection I found handwritten pieces, by Thornton, on the back of the sketch for Montmajeure (see sketch at the end of the collection). They include a piece by Vitruvius, part of Revelations 22:13 and a piece that I have been unable to locate.

February 2019. I have managed to obtain a pristine copy of “Wood” 1956 another experimental etching similar to “Forest”. My collection of her early works is beginning to get a little more comprehensive.

July 2019. I have just got back the 3 woodcuts mentioned in my post of May 2018 from Andrew Wheeler the restorer and he has done a magnificent job. The prints have been cleaned flattened (remember they are printed on crumply tissue paper) and backed with a very thin Japanese paper. They look fabulous. I will now have to get them high res scanned and put up on the site. For Andrew’s contact details see bottom of the blog.

August 2019 the 3 woodcuts have now been scanned and added.

October 2020 things have been quiet with my retirement and the Covid-19 pandemic, but I have managed to buy 2 further works. A very early print, which I think is a lithograph, dated 1953 and signed on the brown paper backing to the frame. Titled Windsor Car park it is during the period when she was still at Regent Street Polytechnic and could be unique. The second item is an oil on board sketch of the church of San Salvatore, Spoleto. Very similar to an oil on canvas that I have previously seen and was up for auction in 2018, See image at the end of the blog. I have posted a temporary image of the 1953 print and will post an high definition scan when I get it back from cleaning from Andrew Wheeler

You can contact me at jorojin7@btinternet.com.

Windsor Car Park 1953

Scabious 1954

This also known with an orange centre to the Scabious head.

White Reeds 1955 (20)

This print is known in various colours / shades.

Forest 1956

Again this is known in various colours / shades showing how Valerie was experimenting.

Wood 1956 (20)

Another experimental etching, the blue is almost fluorescent. The blue is less intense as some other copies with the brown being more dense.

Canterbury Tower 1956 (35)

Domme 1957

A strange image, almost child like in the experimentation!

Romanesque Capitals 1957 (35)

This is one of my personal favourites and every time I see it I see a different picture with its changing perspectives, simple, but complex.

Mosque Cordova (Cordoba) 1957 (50)

Mycenae 1958 (30)

Eton College Chapel II 1958 (50)

Valley Dordogne 1958

A strange etching almost a “doodle”

Arachova 1958 (35)

Yew Trees 1958 (20)

I don’t know where but I have seen this print labelled also as Carborundum, which visually fits better than Yew Trees!

Stones 1959 (50)

Façade St Mark’s Square 1959 (50)

Rose Window Notre Dame 1959 (50)

One of my favourites, the ink is laid on very heavy and gives it both a visual and tactile experience.

Two Churches Auxerre 1960 (40)

Stonehenge 1960 (35)

A weird colour combination, which actually looks like wax crayon. Commissioned for St George’s Gallery, London for a Stonehenge exhibition.

Bookcase 1960 (35)

Vezelay Romaine 1962 (50)

One of a series of “Stones” prints

Standing Form 1962 (could be as late as 1966) (25)

Wymondham Abbey 1962 (50)

Her style is beginning to change, although this is still very expressionistic.

Breakwater 1963 (50)

Grand Canal 1963 Version 1 (50)

I have 2 versions of this print, the second is a lighter colour.

Grand Canal 1963 Version 2 (50)

Auxerre Tower 1963 (50)

Auxerre 1963 (50)

New York City 1964 (75)

Skyscrapers New York 1964 (50)

Navajo Canyon 1964 (50)

Arizona 1964 (30)

Mesa Verde 1964 (30)

Although I like the visualisation of the scenes I aren’t particularly struck by the colour choices. Ok it looks sandy and deserty but the odd highlight of colour would have made all the difference, see the blue window in Vezelay Interior 1974 or the red door in Castello Nuevo 1981.

Harrow 1964 (50)

Part of a series “Public Schools” commisioned by Editions Alecto

Yellow Palace 1964 Woodcut  (20)

This is one of a small number of woodcuts that Valerie carried out, in runs of as few as 6. Due to the very thin tissue paper like media used it does not hang well in frames and sags, because of this very few survive. I have had my woodcuts mounted, by a specialist print restorer, on a thin japanese backing paper with a starch glue. One of my top 10 prints.

St Mark’s Library 1965 Woodcut (18)

San Domingo 1965 Woodcut (35)

The church of San Domingo in San Cristobal, Mexico. Again I have had this mounted on thin japanese backing paper due to its fragility.

Cathedral, San Francisco, Mexico 1965 Woodcut (24)

Self Portrait, San Cristobal, Mexico 1965 Woodcut (35)

Brick wall farmyard 1965 (50)

The above title is speculative as it is untitled. It is an example of the very deeply impressed images that Valerie did for several of her farmyard brickwork etchings. The etching impression is so deep in the heavy paper that you feel as if you can take out the individual bricks.

Suffolk Barns 1965 (30)

The above title is speculative as it is untitled. It is an example of the very deeply impressed images that Valerie did for several of her farmyard brickwork etchings. The etching impression is so deep in the heavy paper that you feel as if you can take out the individual bricks.

St Pere Sous Vezelay 1965 (50)

Vezelay 1965 (50)

East Anglian Shore 1967 (50)

Norwich Interior 1968 (100)

Arno 1968 (50)

The river Arno in Florence, Italy, showing the Ponte Vecchio upper centre left.

Granary King’s Lynn 1969

The above title is speculative as it is untitled.

Binham Priory 1969 (50)

St Hilda’s College Old Hall 1969(?) (75)

Lincoln Façade 1969 (50)

San Miniato, Florence 1969 (100)

Sussex Place 1970 (70)

I love her treatment of the sky in this print, full scale it looks fantastic.

Pottery 1970 (ish)

Assumed title as both copies that I have owned are untitled. She did several etching of pots, but reference to this particular example seems elusive. Very large print.

Lancing College Chapel 1970 (50)

Chapel to Lancing College in West Sussex, is an example of Gothic Revival architecture, started in 1868, but halted in 1977 the chapel is still not fully completed.

Flatford Mill 1971 (50)

Red Glass 1972 (50)

Part of a series of etching showing glass from different eras.

Ancient Glass 1972 (50)

Ditto

North Leach 1972 (70)

St Amand de Coly 1972 (50)

I have seen the original large sketch for this and would love to own it, but it is out of my price range.

Amboise 1973 (150)

St Margaret’s, Cley 1973 (70)

The Prior’s Door Ely Cathedral 1973 (75)

Leiston 1973 (35)

A good example of how she shows the flint stonework.

Cley-Next-the-Sea 1973 (50)

One of my favourites, the colours are subtle and the way the headstones merge in to the grass.

Churchill College, Cambridge 1973 (70)

Maryport, Cumbria 1974 (75)

Corme Royal 1974 (75)

Again subtle colours, but effective.

Clare 1974 (70)

Vezelay Interior 1974 (70)

See how the small patch of blue in the window and the red in the arches, brings alive the print.

Boxford 1974 (150)

Arles 1975

Lanercost Priory, Cumbria 1975

Santo Domingo de Silas 1975 (70)

Montmajour 1976 (60)

Suffolk Farm 1976 (150)

Old House, Maidenburg Street, Colchester 1976 (80)

Peper Harrow, Surrey 1976 (70)

Estella 1976 (70)

Again the use of a very “gentle” purple for the figures lifts the whole print.

Guildhall Lavenham 1977 (250)

One of my favourites and one of 3 “red” pictures on the wall of my study.

Rooftops, Estella 1977 (70)

Hill Village, Navarre 1977 (150)

Romsey 1977 (70)

Cley Hall Farm 1977 (70)

Bodiam Castle, East Sussex 1977 (250)

Ripoli I 1977 (50)

Beautiful vibrant colours, a dramatic change.

Ripoli II 1977 (50)

Capitals 1978 (150)

One of my first purchases of Valerie Thornton Prints.

San Martin 1978 (150)

Ditto

Moissac 1978 (50)

Segovia 1978 (70)

Cloister, Santo Domingo de Silos 1978 (50)

St Margaret’s, Kings Lynn 1978 (50)

Romanesque Church, Segovia 1979 (150)

My very first Valerie Thornton purchase in 1979.

Serrabone 1979 (60)

A strange, almost lime wash colour.

Bishop’s Palace, St David 1979 (75)

Again the small highlights of pale blue lift the picture.

Ely Cathedral 1979 (50). Ely is one of the great British cathedral and is a must see for anyone.

See the original sketch below in my collection.

Ely Cathedral Interior 1973 Original sketch

Casserres 1979 (50)

A desolate, almost monochrome print that looks more like an engraving than an etching.

Pisa II 1980 (150)

Pisa III 1980 (75)

Pisa IV 1980 (75)

Cain and Able, St Gilles 1980 (60)

Cloisters at Arles 1980 (75)

Cloisters at Elne 1980 (150)

Las Pilas 1980 (100)

Castello Nuevo 1981 (50)

In the actual prints the blue and red highlights stand out like beacons.

Sos del Ray Catolico 1981 (60)

Helleborus Niger 1981 (75)

One of the few botanical prints that she did, although I have see several oil paintings.

Barking, Suffolk 1981 (150)

Capitals, Serrabone 1981 (75)

Esco 1982 (50)

The abandoned village of Esco, Aragon, Spain. A strange composition with a bush or bramble blocking the foreground.

The Loire at Vendome 1982 (150)

Aachen Cathedral, Germany 1982 (70)

Aachen Cathedral Interior 1982 (50)

Capitals Macqueville, France 1982 (40)

Blytheburgh, Suffolk 1982 (50)

Holy Trinity Church, Blythburgh, Suffolk, known as the “Cathedral of the Marshes”.

Tewkesbury Abbey, Gloucestershire. 1982 (50)

The west face of Tewkesbury Abbey.

Norman Chapel, Durham Castle 1982 (60)

Etruscan Encounter 1983 (50)

An unusual arrangement of the study.

Atlantes, Aulnay, France 1983 (70)

Macqueville, France 1983 (150)

Pulteney Bridge, Bath 1983 (100)

Southwold, Suffolk 1984 (70)

St Edmunds Church, Southwold, Suffolk.

Anchor and Arrow 1984

This appears to be a collaboration between Valerie Thornton and her husband and fellow artist Michael Chase. I have tried to make enquiries about it but have not been able to find anything out. Both signatures appear to be by the individuals, but I don’t know the significance of the “p” in front of Valerie’s name – “print”? I have never seen another example of it during my years of collecting.

Horseman, Fidenza 1985 (15)

Fidenza a small village in the region of Parma, Emilia-Romagna, Italy

St Euphamia, Spoleto, Umbria, Italy 1985 (70)

On the Sea of Galilee, Spoleto, Umbria, Italy 1985 (85)

Norwich 1985 (70)

Aibar, Navarre, Spain 1985 (70)

Pharaoh and his Horsemen, Lucca, Tuscany, Italy 1985 (75)

Tewkesbury Abbey Interior 1986 (70)

Bridge at Vendome 1986 (70)

Urbino, Italy 1987

The story of Jonah, Moscuto 1988 (90)

Etruscan Parting 1988 (90)

Le Besset 1988 75)

Fermignano, Italy 1988 (75)

Living in Harmony 1989 (45)

A Complete change of style.

St. Aignan, Orleans 1989 (45)

Living in Peace, St Benoit sur Loire. 1989 (45)

Feast in the House of Simon,  Neuilly en Donjon  1991 (70 State)

Moissac 1972 Pencil and watercolour

Monaterio de Arlanza 1976 Pencil and watercolour

Ely Cathedral Interior 1973 Pencil, crayon and wash

Stones and Images Pencil and wash

The Baptistery, Pisa Pencil and wash

One of my favourite sketches, but as far as I know it was never made into an etching. Although not signed it was bought as part of a collection of her sketches from the estate of her agent.

Shepherds and Sheep Linocut?

No idea what this is, it seems to have been printed on an exercise cover book, was it a Christmas card?

Cloisters Montmajour 1975 Pencil and wash

The Cloisters from a different angle to the etching made in 1976. On the back of which I have found 3 pieces of prose (?) in French, in her handwriting.

The first part is a tract by Marcus Vitruvius Pollio a 1st C BC roman polymath, author, poet, engineer and architect and is probably from his multi volume De Architectura, his discussions on proportions led to  the famous Renaissance drawing by Leonardo da Vinci of Vitruvian Man.

The second piece is the Alpha and Omega from Revelations 22:13, but I cannot find any references to the 3rd piece, or the author, HELP please.

Bishop’s Palace, St David. 1978 Pencil and wash

St. Mary’s, Bures, Suffolk Pencil, crayon and watercolour

A small sketch with construction lines for transposition on to other media.

A “doodle” page from her sketch book showing capitals, carvings and a pair of  figures in a quirky border, reminiscent of her Etruscan Encounter print. Carried out in mixed media, of pencil, ink, chalk and watercolour. Although not signed it has a back label from the original sale of the item in 1992 from the Redfern Gallery which has a very large collection of Valerie Thornton prints and sketches.

An oil on board of one of the alcoves in the church of San Salvatore, Spoleto. Although unsigned the note of author and title on a label on the rear of the sketch is clearly in Thornton’s handwriting. Any of my reservations on its authenticity disappeared when I put on the wall of my lounge, the pencil work and detail just sings “Thornton”. So much is like the work in other pencil sketches I own such as Cloisters Montmajoure, the Baptistery Pisa and the Ely Cathedral Interior. It sits between 2 of my Thornton Mexico woodcuts Cathedral San Francisco, Mexico and San Domingo. So at last I have a Thornton oil painting.

Andrew Wheeler has restored many of the prints shown in this blog and I have been particularly impressed with the results for the woodcuts printed on “tissue paper”, several of which were in distressed creased / crumpled condition when I bought them. He can be contacted on 0117 3737068, or watercolourconservation@gmail.com , or via his website https://www.fine-art-on-paper-restoration.co.uk/

Copyright 2021 and site ownership Frank Cooke email jorojin7@btinternet.com