London Cityscape Paintings, Contemporary Art Inspired By The Capital
London is a city which has always inspired artists.
Within the art we showcase at the Rose Gallery, we are always thrilled to explore works which capture our capital city, with each artist brings their own perspective and focus to these familiar scenes.
We wanted to take an opportunity to celebrate London art, looking at four of our current cityscape artists and exploring how the city has inspired their work.
The Impressionistic, Realistic London
Alena Carvalho, who was born and raised in Prague but has lived in the UK for over 20 years, describes her style as “Impressionistic realism, if there is such a style”. She aims for a fairly realistic portrayal, but with some flexibility to ensure she captures the atmosphere, mood and light of the place.
Alena’s pieces often include the double deckers and black cabs which are iconic, not to mention architecture and places we’ll recognise such as Big Ben, St Pauls and the South Bank. Within these scenes, however, she uses the light and weather (with rain playing a prominent role in many of her works) to explore different feelings and tones.
We love the vibrant energy of Alena’s work, telling personal stories in busy spaces and capturing bright winter days and damp autumn evenings with equal joy.
The Storyteller’s London
Tom Butler’s art has always been inspired by place and one of those places is London. Introducing mixed media into his works as he developed his style, he uses the texture and words within his cuttings to tell stories of places and the people within them.
Tom describes London’s charm and bustle as a place “you could never tire of returning to”. Deliberately bringing us back to places we know, such as Piccadilly Circus with its fleet of red buses, we are then drawn into the place to explore the detail within it, such as the “Roar” of the lion in Brolly Good.
We love the narratives Tom shares, creating details and characters in places we love, knowing that each time we return we’ll find something new.
The People Watcher’s London
Jo Quigley has been practising her art for many years and in the last two decades she has been shortlisted, and achieved success, in several prizes. She says her “inspiration comes from life itself” more recently becoming fascinated with people in an urban environment.
While Jo’s art presents some familiar views, including the London South Bank and Thames; in her paintings, the city is a background for the lives and stories she presents for us to explore. Using colour, light and particularly shadow, we are experiencing the capital alongside her subjects, drawn into their moments.
Like many of our favourite artists, the beauty of Jo’s work is its ability to pull you into a story, encouraging you to take time within the scene and get to know its characters.
Paintings of London
London Art will always be popular, telling timeless stories of a vibrant city. If you’d like to explore more of our cityscape paintings we’d be happy to help.
Click here to visit our London collection.
