“If you asked me seriously – what artist did I like best of artists painting today? I would say Sheila Fell” – L.S. Lowry, 1968.

Sheila Fell RA FRSA (1931 – 1979) was one of Cumbria and, indeed, the 20th century’s most significant artists. Championed by Lowry, her expressionist landscapes showed her native Cumberland beyond the pastoral and picturesque. Though she lived her adult life in London, it was her birthplace that served as inspiration throughout her career.

Sheila Fell: Cumberland on Canvas will be the first major retrospective of Fell’s work in over thirty years. This exhibition brings together 100 works from private and public collections across the country from the likes of Tate, National Portrait Gallery, Royal Academy, and those much closer to home, Abbot Hall and The Nelson Thomlinson School. It has been curated by Eleanor and Andrew Bradley, who have compiled a comprehensive catalogue raisonné of Fell’s work, set to be published in spring 2025.

The exhibition will explore Cumberland as Fell’s source of artistic inspiration, her childhood in Aspatria, her artistic development at Carlisle School of Art (then located in Tullie House) followed by St. Martin’s School of Art, Fell’s recognition as an important female artist, her relationships and her legacy.

In addition to Fell’s work, the exhibition will include an interview with Melvyn Bragg, alongside a short documentary on Fell he made with the BBC in 1963.

Returning to Aspatria, Fell’s place of birth, the exhibition will feature artistic responses and exhibition interpretation from Richmond Hill Primary School pupils, as well as spoken word contributions from Beacon Hill Secondary School students .

The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue – Buy Sheila Fell: Cumberland on Canvas catalogue online. 

Sheila Fell: Cumberland on Canvas will run from 23 November 2024 – 16 March 2025. Entry to the exhibition is included with admission, giving unlimited access to the exhibition. Children and young people under-18 go free.

After closing at Tullie, the exhibition will tour to Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens.

This exhibition has been made possible with support from Eleanor and Andrew Bradley Exhibition Curators, Weston Loan Programme with Art Fund, and The Granada Foundation.

Pictured Snowscape, Cumbria by Sheila Fell. Image courtesy of Sheffield Museums Trust. (c) the estate of Sheila Fell.