Arts

Guernsey was home to several artists during the Romantic period whose work is preserved by the Guernsey Museum.

The paintings, which are watercolours, are not on permanent display for conservation reasons and spend most of their time in storage.

The Romantic movement flourished in Europe in the late 18th and through the 19th centuries.

The artists in Guernsey at that time included Paul Jacob Naftel and Peter Le Lievre as well as Victor Hugo, who is more famous for his writing.

Paul Jacob Naftel was Guernsey's only locally born professional artist of this period.

Allegedly self taught he produced a staggering amount of pictures during his lifetime, between 1,000 and 2,000 works.

Curator Helen Conlon in the store

Peter Le Lievre never exhibited his paintings, which would have brought him recognition and maybe even wealth, but kept them as a private hobby known only to his friends.

He was well-known in the island as a Constable, Churchwarden and for his 30 years as a St Peter Port Douzaineer.

After his death Le Lievre's watercolours came into the public domain and started to become popular.

The French exile Victor Hugo was told by one of the great romantic painters, Delacroix, that had he been a painter instead of a writer he would have outshone the artists of their century.

The Romantics painting in the Guernsey Museum store are getting an airing as an exhibition called Romantics in the Channel Islands begins on Saturday 31 January 2009 at the Guernsey Museum and Art Gallery.