'The Paintings Collected by Madame Bowes': A Talk by Professor John Findlay

On 29^th May the group gathered at the Methodist Church Hall to hear John Findlay’s talk on the paintings collected by Josephine Bowes and now form part of the Bowes Museum collection. John explained that when he arrived in Durham some decades ago, as a newly appointed Lecturer in Psychology, he was delighted to discover the Bowes Museum and its art collection. After retirement his involvement with the Bowes began as a volunteer looking after the archives working with the Archivist and Librarian. In recent times he has researched the acquisition of the ‘founder’s collection’ during the 1850’s and 60’s; tracing bills, receipts and other documents from art dealers and auction houses in Paris and cross referencing them to the catalogue of works in the museum. It was interesting to see these connections laid out on maps of Paris and to appreciate how closely placed were the dealers’ premises to the Theatre des Varieties, owned by John Bowes, and the Bowes’ residences, all within the 9^th Arondissment. From these documents John was able to deduce, with varying degrees of certainty, that Josephine’s taste in art tended towards what was then modern, i.e. the pre-impressionist ‘plein-air’ painters like those of the Barbizon School, whereas her husband, John Bowes’, preference lay with paintings by ‘Old Masters’. Josephine was an accomplished artist in her own right and John also showed how she was influenced by the artists whose work she bought. We will visit the Bowes Museum with renewed insight in the future.