Matthew Alexander
(b.1953)
Born in Kent, Matthew Alexander, the son of artist Chris Alexander (1926 - 1982), attended both school and art school in Canterbury before completing his studies at Maidstone College of Art and the University of London. From 1975 he taught art at secondary school and in 1981 decided to take the plunge to paint full time, a confident but brave decision with a wife and three children to support.
Now, over forty years later, he is one of the UK's most established and recognised landscape painters in the Post-Impressionist manner. His work has been shown regularly in London's West End, in Aldeburgh, Suffolk and in Dallas, USA and this exhibition will be the latest in a string of solo exhibitions at the John Davies Gallery.
A lover of the sea and the owner of his own boat, Matthew has regularly explored the coastline of his home county of Kent, as well as the creeks and inlets of Essex and Suffolk. From such locations he often features the traditional sailing barges that were vital transport from East Anglia to London and elsewhere throughout the 19th Century. Today these wonderful craft can still be found either plying these waters or moored, used for pleasure as well as competition. Further north, the Norfolk Broads have always been a great attraction to Matthew for subject matter such as smaller sailing craft with white sails catching the sunlight often against stormy skies.
France and Venice have also been strong attractions for Matthew. Venice is, of course, rich subject matter for any artist, but one that Matthew has enjoyed over regular visits, revelling in compositions featuring the architecture, the canals, the gondolas and figures.
Regions near Paris and along the Seine have been particular attractions; here the artist has sought out many locations where the French Impressionists actually worked, some quite unaltered in the last 120 years or so, and where Matthew has produced much of his warmest and most atmospheric work.
Over the years, Matthew has become extremely adept at portraying the varying weather in the locations that he visits in Britain, France as well as the lagoons of Venice. His work displays flavours of Pissarro, Sisley and Seago and provides us with great warmth and connection to the late 19th and early 20th Century period and the tradition of Post Impressionism.
John Davies, October 2024
