Lucy, Nettie & Alayne (The Three Sisters)

Francis Iles Gallery

It has been our privilege and pleasure to see Gordon develop as an artist over the last 25 years.

All great artists try to capture fleeting moments in time and Gordon excels at this, whether it is a shadow crossing a path or a sun ray lighting dust motes in a window pane. The beauty of his work is that these fleeting moments are set within the context of semi permanence: the rusty lock that will outlast us all, the piece of twine that has tethered the farm gate for the last 30 years. These things are not meant to last, yet the fact that they have makes us question our own invincibility and time span.

It is without doubt, Gordon’s experience as a war artist that makes him express our own fragility and temporalness with so much sensitivity and poignancy. Yet his paintings are not sombre or sad; instead, they are a joyful reminder to appreciate every moment we are given and to find beauty in unexpected places – the mud and rust of life as well as the more typically scenic.

Gordon’s work can be described as representational but within the representation he encourages us to explore these abstract thoughts.

Goethe famously said that “The mediator of the inexpressible is the work of art” – Gordon makes it easier for us to grasp the inexpressible with his representational work but that is not to say that the inexpressible element in his work should be ignored or underrated. Of course it is absolutely fine for someone to enjoy his work simply as an attractive and well executed painting but it is also wonderful when the depth of his work is discovered. At this level his paintings are even more alluring and enduring.

We as a gallery cherish the close, trusting relationship we have with Gordon. We have rarely found a talent who combines so many attributes that we hope for in an artist – apart from his undeniable virtuosity: integrity, honesty, complete compositional originality and really far too much humility.

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Jamie Rountree

Rountree Tryon Galleries

Gordon Rushmer – Warrior Artist

Nicknamed ‘Warrior Artist’ by various military groups with which he was embedded, the phrase perfectly describes Gordon’s purposeful and unrelenting search for interesting moments in the middle of conflict, that give the viewer a ‘feeling’ of what it means to be in a war zone. Whether it be of soldiers at rest, civilians considering their shattered lives, or just a bomb-damaged doorway – Gordon immerses himself, and us, in the small things, the day-to-day scenarios that intersperse with the more major events in any conflict.

The concept of a ‘war artist’ is virtually unique to Britain. Many artists over the years were killed while experiencing battle, especially in the two World Wars, but others survived to give us an extraordinary view of life in the front line. Being with the armed forces on active duty has, in almost every case, had a crucial effect on the artist’s subsequent work whether to take them down a dark, angry path (Nevinson’s work was never quite the same afterwards), or a more hopeful path bathed in golden light. Gordon has taken the latter route, preferring to offer the viewer hope rather than decay and destruction, very much like the Nash brothers who retreated to the countryside for solace to deal with their experiences. Gordon’s war paintings as messages are hard hitting and explosive, but expressed in a gentle, subtle manner – very much like the man himself.

His technique is Shadow and Light and hasn’t war always been thus. Gordon’s use of brushes to emphasise scenes is exquisite. The small brushes used to focus the viewer’s eye on a specific detail and the larger brushes swathed across the paper like a Turner wash. The understanding is that war is a human failing. Nature carries on regardless, uncaring but always beautiful both on the ground and in the air. Gordon’s work allows the viewer time to appreciate and come to a considered opinion on conflict in a way that the internet and news stations fail to do.