Sisters Jane, Bathsheba, and Willa hold Autumn 25’ exhibition

Three sisters Jane Langdon, Bathsheba Peralta and Willa Serfaty will tonight launch their latest exhibition at the Fine Arts Gallery in Casemates featuring over 100 artworks spanning 25 years.

At the Fine Arts Gallery, sisters Jane Langdon, Bathsheba Peralta and Willa Serfaty are showcasing some of their newest works and a selection from their private collection.

The sisters have held joint exhibitions over the years, with this newest instalment showing their distinct styles and approaches to art.

Willa’s pieces feature contemporary still life paintings and range from everyday items like household goods flowers, fruit and vegetables to more complex representations often symbolising life, beauty and fragility.

She has been inspired by the Art Deco style with this being a common thread in her artworks.

One of her stand out pieces in this exhibition is a figurative work called ‘La Caleta’, which features the Serfaty family in the summer of 1963.

The painting is a family portrait of Jane and Leon Serfaty, with their daughters Bathsheba, Priscilla, Jane, and Willa.

Jane’s artworks are inspired by the Mediterranean cypress tree, which she said stands out in the landscape like a beautiful sculpture.

“I started the first collection, that I showed in Tangier, which was called ‘Forest Forever’, and I've continued to work on the same theme, but incorporating characters of animals and people in the countryside and villages,” Jane said.

“I work from memory and imagination, so really, it's my dream world. I love to express without any pressure of any kind.”

For Jane, her art is an expression of her imagination, with a changing colour palette and spontaneous brush work.

“I really enjoy just starting on a white canvas and letting my imagination run freely and slapping it on,” she said.

“Also, I'm very interested in letting the first sketch show through. So in a lot of the pictures there's sketchy parts, and then, on the same picture, the heavy impasto that is laid on afterwards.”

“I love doing that because it gives a sense of mystery and it really shows the rhythm of the brushwork, the bold colours, and the spontaneous brushstrokes have a lot of energy.”

She added that the cypress tree which features strongly in her works in a sacred tree known for its resilience, which withstands droughts and storms.

She described it as a symbol of the Mediterranean landscape, adding that her inspiration for her pieces is the “living world”.

“We're surrounded by beauty, by drama, it's everywhere,” she said.

“I think when you create, and when you have the discipline of working, whether you're a writer, or an artist, or a singer, or a songwriter, the inspiration is all around you.”

“But what really is important is how you interpret. It's the art of interpretation, what is valuable. When we see the results of that, that's when we can communicate that to the viewer, to people who are going to see the work.”

“Everybody will have a different opinion, or see it differently, or imagine something else.”

She said what is important is to express oneself, adding that there is a lot of local talent in Gibraltar.

Bathesheba is exhibiting artworks from her personal collection painted 25 years ago inspired by the Andalusian countryside.

“I fell in love with this part of Andalusia,” she said.

“I knew some people there that had invited me when it was time to harvest.”

“I went early morning to the countryside and I fell in love with the atmosphere and I did a few sketches and a few photographs and came home.”

The works depict farmers harvesting crops such as olives and asparagus.

The paintings were previously hung in Bathshesba’s home and this is the first time the works will be exhibited publicly.

A recent collection of Bathsheba’s works are also on show and focus scenes with town houses.

She said she is fascinated by houses which she paints from her balcony at home.

Another series of her works features flowers in lively colours, and one of her key pieces in this exhibition is her painting of cows in Oxford.

The sisters are grateful to be exhibiting in the Fine Arts Gallry, which Willa was a co-founder of 25 years ago.

Jane said the Gallery is a success with a good committee pushing it forward and holding events like live drawing.

She added that the trio are grateful to be able to show their work in the Gallery.

The exhibition is open to the public as from Wednesday, September 24 to Friday, October 10. The Gallery is open Monday to Friday 10am to 4pm, with late evening openings on Wednesdays and Thursdays until 8pm for the duration of this exhibition.