9 March, 2004

A retrospective exhibition looking at work by a Bury St Edmunds artist whose work can be seen in local pubs as well as the Royal Collections starts this month at the Manor House Museum.

Born in 1903 at Ixworth, Ernest Payne studied at the Bury St Edmunds School of Art. Later he worked for many years at the Greene King brewery where he put his artistic talent to good use by painting numerous designs for inn signs, some of which will feature in the exhibition. 

Commenting on the exhibition, Collections Manager Keith Cunliffe said:

"The paintings of Ernest Payne do not astonish us with novelty or technical brilliance.  They have a quiet appeal, using soft tones which seem to capture perfectly a particular era in the history of Suffolk.  That appeal has only grown stronger in the ten years since Ernest Payne died in 1994 and now seems a good time to look back and celebrate his achievement over a lifetime of painting in this county."

After his retirement Ernest Payne concentrated on still life paintings of flowers, executed with exquisite attention to detail, and it is these which are perhaps the most highly regarded part of his work with examples included in the Royal Collections.  Three of his large flower paintings will appear in this exhibition.

The main focus of the exhibition however will be the paintings which evoke so many different aspects of life in Suffolk during the first half of the 20^th century.  They include a wide range of subjects, from Suffolk Punches working in the fields to Punch and Judy shows on the beach as well as many familiar locations in and around Bury St Edmunds.  Together they gently conjure up a bygone age and a now vanished way of life.

The exhibition will run from March 24^th until June 6^th at the Manor House Museum, Honey Hill, Bury St Edmunds. The museum is open from 11am until 4pm Wednesday to Sunday. For more information contact the museum on 01284 757074/6 or email manor.house@stedsbc.gov.uk

                                                                        ENDS