Stephen Altena
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  • FROLIC 2023
  • Pretty Things 2021
  • In The Shadow Garden
  • Quarantine Garden 2020
  • Paintings 2020
  • Upper Canadian Living: Montgomery's Inn 2019
  • Mckenzie House (2019)
  • The Miss Philippa Savary Residency, Elton House, Bath UK (2018)
  • In Bloom (2018)
  • Another Spring (2018)
  • Luxury Scarves (2016)
  • Wallpaper (2016)
  • Artist CV
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The Miss Philippa Savary Residency, 
Elton House, Bath UK 

Assembly Gallery, 4 Cannon Street East, Hamilton ON
August 31st to Sept 29th, 2018

Including a special Flower Bower Installation by
Jessica Gale of Sweet Gale Gardens and
Jessica Payne of A Fine Medley,

Supercrawl weekend September 14th, 15th and 16th
Opening Reception Friday Sept. 14, 7-10pm.  

   Built in 1799, Elton House is located in the center of the city of Bath, in England. It is a restored period house now under the care of the Landmark Trust. It was bequeathed to the Trust by Miss Philippa Savary, who gradually over a period of decades acquired ownership of the house and operated an antique shop from its front room, which now houses a museum displaying some of her treasures.
   In the spring of 2018 Stephen Altena used a stay at this house to construct a fantasy artist's residency, researching the history of the house and the decorative arts of the period with the additional resources of the various museums and collections of Bath. The house itself (and the Landmark Trust) provided a wealth of detail, from period textiles, wallpapers and ornamentation, to the lushly overgrown enclosed garden where Miss Savary escaped the hurly burly of town life and trade.
   Using this research as inspiration for his own paintings, Altena reaches into the past and re-establishes a link between this enchanted property, the balm of the decorative arts and his own queer aesthetic, and with the assistance of florists Jessica Payne and Jessica Gale, recreates this pleasant bower in our own fast paced world.
The Miss Philippa Savary Residency, Elton House Bath, UK. Installation view, Assembly Gallery
The Miss Philippa Savary Residency, Elton House, Bath UK. Installation view, Assembly Gallery
Cherries. 2018, oil on canvas, 36'x36" $850
The Blue Birds Of Paradise. 2018, oil on canvas, 36"x36" SOLD
The Rose Trophy. 2018, oil on canvas, 36"x36" $850
Pink Berries. 2018, oil on canvas, 14"x18" (35.56cmx45.72cm) SOLD
The Pink Tree. 2018, coloured pencil on paper, 22"x30" (55.88cmx76.2cm) $200
The Railway. 2018, coloured pencil on paper, 22"x30" (55.88cmx76.2cm) $200
Nudie Teapot. 2018, coloured pencil on paper, 22"x30" (55.88cmx76.2cm) $200
The Miss Philippa Savary Residency, Elton House, Bath, UK. Detail, Salon Wall.
Sally Lunn 3. 2018, oil on canvas, 24"x24" (60.96cmx60.96cm) $650
Sally Lunn 2. 2018, oil on canvas, 24"x24" (60.96cmx60.96cm) $650
  • Home
  • FROLIC 2023
  • Pretty Things 2021
  • In The Shadow Garden
  • Quarantine Garden 2020
  • Paintings 2020
  • Upper Canadian Living: Montgomery's Inn 2019
  • Mckenzie House (2019)
  • The Miss Philippa Savary Residency, Elton House, Bath UK (2018)
  • In Bloom (2018)
  • Another Spring (2018)
  • Luxury Scarves (2016)
  • Wallpaper (2016)
  • Artist CV
  • About