Dennis Duckworth Exhibition Room3

Room 3 - SPIRIT

Dennis Duckworth spent his working life as a minister in the New Jerusalem Church. He was also a classical scholar and translator of the works of Emanuel Swedenborg, the 17^th Century mystic and theologian. He chose to illustrate many biblical and spiritual accounts through his painting. Some have subjects familiar to the Christian tradition, others are more obscure and abstract representations of the spiritual teachings found in Swedenborg’s writings.

Many of the Biblical subjects are taken from the Book of Revelation. The rather surrealist and poetic descriptions are given deeper spiritual meaning through Swedenborg’s writings. Dennis Duckworth illustrated these both as an appropriate outlet to his creative ambitions and as a means of conveying their significance and meaning to a wider audience.

In this room are also shown works which although not religious subjects, convey a sense of “spirit” – a life or vitality shining through from beneath the surface of our material existence.

“I left Art School. Why? There were two reasons. The Royal College of Art in South Kensington was having a bad press. Art students were being arrested for improper behaviour at the Chelsea Arts Ball and my parents, aunts and uncles looked down their noses with disfavour. The other reason was the more persuasive: I was offered a strong counter-attraction. The pastor of the Swedenborgian church suggested that I should apply for studentship at the New-Church College in London with a view to ordination into the ministry. Parents, aunts and uncles were all for it - a chance to be embraced. I had to pass an entrance examination in five subjects, including Latin - which I hadn't. So I spent two years working for that. Music took the place of the visual arts; I became a 'cellist.

Latin was no obstacle and I passed the entrance exam. In September 1935 I took the train to Preston and to London. Farewell, Accrington! Farewell, Acorn-town! The acorn becomes the oak-tree. Accrington was my acorn; London became my broad and sturdy oak.”

Gethsemane	1943/ 1983	Conté Crayon / Watercolour	56 x 74
The Birth of the Man-Child Revelation XII	1989	Conté Crayon / Watercolour	65 x 55	Signed
William Blake composing his poem "The Divine Image" Great East Cheap, London, Easter 1789	1989	Conté Crayon / Watercolour	69 x 53	Signed
Conjugial Love - Scientific Degree	1995	Conté Crayon / Watercolour / Collage	65 x 51	Signed
The Dancer	1999	Conté Crayon / Watercolour	47 x 36	Signed
Women of Ulster Crying for Peace	2000	Conté Crayon / Watercolour	72 x 54	Signed
The Foursquare City	2001	Conté Crayon / Watercolour	56 x 74	Signed
The White Horse Rev. 19	2001	Conté Crayon / Watercolour	50 x 66	Signed
The Mirror - A drawing of Conjugial Love	2001	Conté Crayon / Watercolour	61 x 48	Signed
Conjugial Love 78	1996	Conté Crayon / Watercolour
Garden of Gethsemene	1970s	Collage and Wax Crayon	71 x 48
The Crucifixion	1970s	Collage	50 x 38
Swedenborg explores the Great Copper Mine at Fahlun	1990	Conté Crayon / Watercolour	72 x 53
The Study - The Insanity of Faith Alone TCR 35	1993	Conté Crayon / Watercolour	60 x 75	Signed
Circle Dance	2003	Conté Crayon / Watercolour
Hebrew Alphabet	1970s	Ink	52x36	Signed
The Annunciation
Madonna and Child
"Lost in a Pardise Garden" TCR 737		Conté Crayon / Watercolour	59 x 44	Signed