Page 11 - Hindsight Issue 26 April 2020

KetteRIng
death in 1942. W t Wright, the new Chairman, was a nephew of Alfred east and a talented painter and recorder of Kettering street scenes that have become a valuable record of the appearance the town since Victorian times.
Alfred east and thomas Cooper gotch were happy to be elected as Vice-Presidents of the new society. Its first annual exhibition was planned, and W B gash was commissioned to design the KDAs logo, which is still used today.
Walter Bonner Gash (1869–1928) a professional artist, was already exhibiting at the Royal Academy. He was born in Lincoln, studied in Antwerp, Belgium, and came to Kettering to further a teaching career at the grammar school. Reportedly an outstanding teacher offering much encouragement, he also gave private lessons locally.
gash, along with east, had directly encouraged Harry Dorr (1872–1950) with his drawing. Dorr, although born in Kettering, had moved to London after the death of his father in 1885. Living near the West India Docks, his observance of shipping led him to excel later in maritime subjects. In 1896, probably encouraged by gash, he had toured France and Belgium, sketching and painting as he travelled. george Harrison had also studied art in Antwerp at the same time as gash, whom he regarded as a mentor.
Alfred East Art Gallery
During 1910, a celebratory banquet was arranged by both the society and Kettering Urban District Council to mark sir Alfred east’s knighthood. In replying to the toast ‘the Royal Academy’, the eminent sculptor, sir george Frampton, RA, suggested that Kettering should have an art gallery. that same evening sir Alfred announced that he wished to present paintings to the town. As a result, the Urban District Council commissioned the building of a gallery, which was finally completed in 1913 by public donation.
sadly sir Alfred’s health had been deteriorating and, earlier in the year, he had been unable to attend the official opening of the gallery, which was to carry his name. He died on 28 september 1913 at his London residence in Belsize Park. His body was then brought back to Kettering to lie in state in the new Art gallery, where it was surrounded by the pictures he had presented to the town, attracting a crowd of several thousands.
With the opening of the new Alfred east Art gallery, beside the permanent collection of east’s, one of the first paintings to be hung was gash’s The Connoisseur. this was originally purchased in 1905 during the initial campaign for an art gallery to
Left: ‘The Connoisseur’ by W B Gash. This is a portrait of Kettering born Benjamin Blackwell Percival (1840-1914) who was an antique dealer and picture restorer trading from the Old Curiosity Shop in Gold Street, Kettering
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