New exhibition in Sheffield looks at the relationships that help to create a public art collection

Framed in Friendship: A Legacy of Art in Sheffield at the Graves Gallery sheds light on how a long-standing relationship between husband-and-wife artists Stephen Bone and Mary Adshead and the Blomfield family, who lived in Sheffield, brought one of the jewels in the crown of the gallery’s art collection to the city.

An impressive early work by Stanley Spencer, Zacharias and Elizabeth, came to Sheffield when Adshead sold the painting on the condition that it could be enjoyed by the people of Sheffield, home to her dear friends George and Babbie Blomfield. The exhibition tells the story of that close personal connection and also demonstrates how other relationships and links with Sheffield have led to important contributions to the city’s art collection over the years.

“We worked very closely with the Blomfield family and they have generously loaned us over 50 objects and photographs and drawings,” says curator Ashley Gallant. “Through those we have tried to give an overview of the arc of the friendship. The earliest piece we have in the show is from about 1930 and the most recent is a photograph of Mary and Babbie Blomfield together from 1991.

“The story of their friendship is told through certain events such as a well-loved family holiday in Scotland – there are a number of drawings and photographs associated with that – and then some really beautiful other works including three paintings of Sheffield by Stephen Bone. Every time he visited he would go out and draw and paint. Those belong to the family and haven’t been seen for years.”

Over half the works in the show have been drawn from Sheffield’s own collection – they include works by Mary Adshead, John Hoyland, Stanley Royle, Henry Tonks, Sir William Rothenstein and his granddaughter Anne Rothenstein.

“We used the idea of friendship as a starting point to look at other links and to bring out other objects and artworks in our collection that aren’t displayed very often,” says Gallant. “There is a diagram on the wall as you walk in that shows all the connections.”

The exhibition also looks at the significant role played in building public art collections by charities such as the Contemporary Arts Society which since its founding in 1910 has donated over 10,000 contemporary artworks to museums across the UK, and the War Artists’ Advisory Committee (WAAC) which in 1945 distributed the 5,570 works created by more than 400 artists over the course of the Second World War to institutions around the country. Those works can be enjoyed by everyone in public galleries and museums for generations to come.

“A lot of the work in our collection, and other public collections, comes from those charities and from personal collections,” says Gallant. “In a way it is a collection of friendships and other connections that create public art collections. Those unseen friendships have given something for everyone to enjoy – and I think that’s really lovely.”

Framed in Friendship: A Legacy of Art in Sheffield is at the Graves Gallery until July 23.