The Sherwin Family Collection
Dr Jeffrey Sherwin (1936-2018) championed visual arts in the north of England throughout his life, starting out as a collector while a junior doctor. As a Leeds city councillor, Sherwin was instrumental in developing the Henry Moore Institute of which Moore himself laid the foundation stone in April 1980. Sherwin was a much-loved general practitioner in Leeds for 40 years and contributed significantly to the civic and cultural life of the city.
In 1986, an exhibition at Leeds Art Gallery was Jeffrey Sherwin’s first encounter with British Surrealism which, in his own words, ‘made me return and look again and again’. For Jeffrey and his wife Ruth, it inspired a lifetime of collecting Surrealist works of art and related archive material. In 2014 Sherwin wrote British Surrealism Opened Up, in the words of the author, an ‘everyman guide’ to British Surrealism.
The Sherwin Family Collection of British Surrealism, and the associated archive, has now found a permanent home at The Hepworth Wakefield, greatly enhancing Wakefield’s collection of Surrealist art.
This research has been supported by the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art.
Eileen Agar (1899-1991)
Image © Estate of Eileen Agar. All rights reserved 2023 / Bridgeman Images
Eileen Agar (1899-1991)
© Estate of Eileen Agar. All rights reserved 2023 / Bridgeman Images
John Banting (1902-1972)
The Sherwin Collection, Leeds, UK / Bridgeman Images
John Banting (1902-1972)
Emmy Bridgwater (1906-1999)
Image reproduced courtesy of Lucy Orta, the Estate of Emmy Bridgwater
Leonora Carrington (1917-2011)
Image © Estate of Leonora Carrington / ARS, NY and DACS, London 2022. The Sherwin Collection
Ithell Colquhoun (1906-1988)
Shared ownership of image copyright: The Samaritans, The Noise Abatement Society and the Sister Perpetua Wing of St Anthony’s Hospital, Cheam, Surrey (now part of Spire Healthcare).
Ithell Colquhoun (1906-1988)
Shared ownership of copyright: The Samaritans, The Noise Abatement Society and the Sister Perpetua Wing of St Anthony’s Hospital, Cheam, Surrey (now part of Spire Healthcare).
Toni del Renzio (1915-2007)
Merlyn Evans
Max Ernst
Image © ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2022. The Sherwin Collection
Gordon Onslow Ford (1912-2003)
Image reproduced courtesy of Lucid Art Foundation, Inverness, California
Samuel Haile (1909-1948)
Image reproduced courtesy of Tattwa Gyani
Samuel Haile (1909-1948)
Image reproduced courtesy of Tattwa Gyani
Frederick Edward Mcwilliam, A.R.A. (1909-1992)
Image reproduced courtesy of Sarah Gretton, FE McWilliam Estate
Conroy Maddox (1912-2005)
Kind permission for reproduction of Landscape of the Night 1939 is given by the artist’s daughter
Reuben Mednikoff (1906-1976)
Reuben Mednikoff (1906-1976)
Reuben Mednikoff (1906-1976)
Desmond Morris (b. 1928)
Image reproduced courtesy of Desmond Morris
Grace Pailthorpe (1883 – 1971)
Grace Pailthorpe (1883 – 1971)
Sir Roland Penrose (1900-1984)
Image: Roland Penrose © Lee Miller Archives, England 2022. All rights reserved
Edith Rimmington (1902-1986)
Image reproduced courtesy of Mrs. F.B. Greenwood
Edith Rimmington (1902-1986)
Image reproduced courtesy of Mrs. F.B. Greenwood
Humphrey Spender (1910-2005)
‘We are so delighted to be working closely with the Sherwin family to look after and make available their important collection to a broad and diverse audience here at The Hepworth Wakefield. We regularly borrowed works from Jeffrey during his lifetime and our staff have fond memories of benefitting from Jeffrey’s deep and engaged knowledge of this exciting period in art history. When Surrealism was at its height in Britain, Barbara Hepworth was creating her earliest abstract carvings and Henry Moore was very much part the movement, so the Sherwin collection is a wonderfully rich resource that adds an important new dimension to our core story of Modern British art.’ Simon Wallis, Director, The Hepworth Wakefield.
