Over the next few weeks, leading up to our participation in the 6th annual Peter Folkes Prep School Exhibition at King Edward VI School in Southampton on the 12th of March, we will be sharing our "Top 10" senior boys’ artworks from 2023. Although it might seem unusual to reflect on last year's highlights in March, this timing allows us to showcase our students' achievements as we present them to our fellow Hampshire prep school art departments.

This week, we're celebrating three outstanding Year 7 graphite drawings inspired by Gerhard Richter, who is arguably one of the greatest living painters of our age. Richter's skull and candle paintings delve into mortality and the fleeting nature of life through photorealistic yet blurred depictions of skulls and candles, symbols of vanitas and memento mori. These works juxtapose precise detail with abstraction, prompting contemplation on existence, memory, and the bounds of visual representation. Richter's technique challenges traditional perceptions, emphasising the transient and the inevitable.

Our boys spent many long hours in the studio refining their graphite technique in pursuit of Richter’s restrained, mature, and refined aesthetic, producing evocative images that surpass their young ages. Nothing like a little bit of gravitas to ground oneself!

John Walters
Head of Art