Don’t miss the final weeks of Finding a Home at the Fry. For our 40th anniversary, this exhibition celebrates the domestic interior with a vibrant personal curation. Also find prints and paintings to buy at Richard Bawden: the Hadleigh Years. Both exhibitions close 26/10 so we hope to see you soon

Our fortieth anniversary exhibitions close in just four weeks! Don’t miss this chance to visit (or re-visit) Finding a Home at the Fry and Richard Bawden: the Hadleigh Years, curations we’ve so enjoyed presenting. Image: The Glass Bowl, etching, Richard Bawden #greatbardfieldartists #fryartgallery

We are thrilled to have received a donation of around 200 of Edward Bawden’s original lino blocks. These form part of a larger group which have been shared with @thehigginsbedford, home of a substantial Bawden collection. This is ‘Gnat and the Lion’ (1970) from his illustrations for Aesop’s Fables.

Bamboo Hall (watercolour 2010) shows Richard Bawden’s affinity for interiors. Richard worked in other media, including etching, linocut and glass engraving. He illustrated books, and made murals, mosaics and furniture. ‘Richard Bawden: the Hadleigh Years’ is our current exhibition of his later work.

Our work of the month and another exciting new acquisition generously donated by David Reed is Apple Tree, oil on board, by Olga Lehmann. Trained at the Slade, Lehmann had a life long career both in the US and the UK. See more of her work in next year’s Fry programme

Acquisition news! Michael Ayrton frequently created imaginative, myth-infused landscapes with classical architecture floating in half-realist, half-dreamlike settings. The Fry Gallery is very grateful to Adam Forman for this generous gift. Sacred Place, oil on chipboard by Michael Ayrton, 1958

Both of our current exhibitions, Finding a Home at the Fry ( curated by @ellaravilious ) and Richard Bawden: the Hadleigh Years, offer insight into the domestic artistic practices of Fry artists who lived and worked in N W Essex. Rich curations to explore! Image: Clutter, Richard Bawden aquatint

As the summer temperatures rise again, we’ve a cool, calm pencil and charcoal drawing for you by John Aldridge, Mug and Jugs. This undated work is a fine example of balance, proportion and line. Aldridge was self-taught, enjoying a distinguished career as a painter and as a teacher at the Slade.

Richard Bawden’s tabby ‘Sasha’ is immortalised in diverse media. He also appears in several etchings on display at the gallery in the exhibition Richard Bawden: the Hadleigh Years. Many original works are for sale. Kitty (etching 2012) is available - in the gallery only - as a handsome A2 poster.

Today we welcomed our first visitors to view and buy a selection of later works from Richard Bawden’s creative life. Moving freely between media, his exceptional drawing skill and sensitive but varied colour palette is evident in these works. Framed purchases may be collected either 27/10 or 29/10

Installation in progress…Richard Bawden, the Hadleigh Years opens on 26 July. A prolific and versatile artist, there’s such warmth, wit and keen observation to enjoy in Bawden’s post 1985 works.This special commemorative exhibition is curated in collaboration with Hattie Bawden #fryartgallery

If you enjoy this picture, see more of the artist’s work in our commemorative exhibition, Richard Bawden: The Hadleigh Years, which opens in the Gibson Room on Saturday 26/7 and runs until 26/10. Some of the works will be for sale. Image: Sitting Room of His Home, watercolour by Richard Bawden 1997

Don’t miss Bardfield Murals, closing this weekend. It has been a pleasure staging this exhibition @FryArtGallery for our 40th Anniversary. Sunday is the last day to view, so find time to visit + see rare works by renowned N W Essex artists #muralpainting #twenthiethcenturyart #greatbardfieldartists

Fabulous at 40! The Fry Art Gallery celebrated with a joyful anniversary lunch at Madingley Hall, Cambridge on 29 June. Thanks to all who joined us for this special occasion.

Many of the artists championed by the Fry were talented muralists, working in Britain during a period of revival of the medium from the 1930s onwards. Kenneth Rowntree’s Mount Vernon mural, 1956, is a rare survivor now in the V&A collection #fryartgallery #twentiethcenturyart #greatbardfieldartists

Our ‘Interiors’ Wall in Finding a Home at the Fry showcases domestic still life works and depictions of the home. We’re delighted to include among the exhibits Eric Ravilious’ 1938 watercolour ‘Still Life with Acanthus Leaves’ - fresh and precise, we love this work’s contrasting shapes and textures.

Olga Lehmann enrolled at the Slade School in 1929 to study theatre design, making London and later Essex her home. An accomplished and prolific muralist, her training also led to Hollywood commissions. See this 1992 Los Angeles mural panel sketch in ‘Bardfield Murals’ until 13 July #fryartgallery

‘Wake up, old tomcat, then with elaborate yawns and stretching, prepare to pursue love’ Issa’s haiku captures perfectly the languid appeal of a pleasure-seeking domestic cat. See some of the most evocative images of our artists’ feline friends @FryArtGallery. Image: Tom Cat (Sheila Robinson, 1973)

Mural study by Edward Bawden, 1951 is our Work of the Month. This preparatory sketch of ‘Country Life’ for the Lion and Unicorn Pavilion at the Festival of Britain is a recent addition to our collection - see it until 13 July in ‘Bardfield Murals’ #fryartgallery #saffronwalden #twentiethcenturyart

Finding a Home at the Fry curator @ellaravilious invited people with connections to our artists to curate cabinets as if they were their own dressers or mantle pieces using objects from their homes and from our collection. Image: Garwood and Ravilious’s kitchen dresser, photo by Edwin Smith, 1955

Is there a corner of your home where you go to read, write, create or just lose yourself in thought? The Attic Bedroom by Eric Ravilious, feels like such a place. We love the plants arranged around the camp-bed, making it an intimate space. Finding a Home at the Fry #fryartgallery #saffronwalden

Until 13 July @fryartgallery do not miss rarely seen mural drawings and maquettes by some of the best loved artists in our collection. Curated by @alanpowers1955 and @neiljenningsfineart ‘Bardfield Murals’ sheds new light on diverse commissions. Alan’s insightful book accompanies the exhibition

Any travel plans this weekend? Our work of the month is a print by Edward Bawden of a diesel railcar about to set off from Braintree and Bocking in 1960, towards the main line at Witham, from where holidaymakers could travel onwards to the Essex resorts of Clacton, Frinton, or Walton on the Naze

There’s a riot of colour to enjoy in our current exhibitions, Finding a Home at the Fry and Bardfield Murals. Images: • A Family Group by Duffy Ayers • Maquette for Country Life, Festival of Britain 1951 by Edward Bawden (courtesy of Higgins, Bedford) #twentiethcenturyart #greatbardfieldartists

Snap up a place at our summer workshop themed around our new exhibition Finding a Home at the Fry. Bring along a shoe box of favourite belongings – treasures – to inspire your work. On 21st June at URC Hall, Saffron Walden 10am-4pm. Booking via our website #essexevents #makeart #collage #drawing

Finding the Lost Murals of the Bardfield Artists, a talk by Alan Powers and part of our annual Fry Lecture Series, is on Friday 25 April at 7.30pm in the Quaker Meeting House, Saffron Walden CB10 1AA. Tickets £6 on the door or on line. See you there!