Latest News

December 2023

We have now readied the Lichfield Series for launching next year. The prints and the booklet will go on sale in the Spring and there will be a formal launch at the Lichfield Festival in July 2024.

The Petit Society has increased the scope of its operations considerably in the past few months with seven new volunteers joining and taking the total of those who regularly contribute to 12. But there is always room for more!

September 2023

The new on-line exhibition is now completed, showing four themes in Petit’s art: 1) Painting well ahead of his time ‘The Pre-Impressionist’, 2) Artist of (some rarely painted aspects of) Victorian Life, are the two new ones. 3) Temples of Worship, and 4) Tours of Old Staffordshire consolidate what was in the previous on-line exhibition.

July 2023

We are delighted to welcome Dr Robin Simon FCA, DLitt, as a patron of the Society. Robin has been Editor of the British Art Journal for the past twenty years, is one of the most widely respected British Art experts, and is a great enthusiast for Petit (of course!).

May 2023

Black Country Radio is scheduling another show about Petit and the beauty of both music and art from the Black Country. Philip Modiano and Billy Spokemon will be playing iconic music and discussing the great historical art of the Industrial Revolution. 

See the pictures to be discussed by clicking HERE

March 2023

The latest book on Petit – JL Petit Britain’s Lost Pre-Impressionist – launched in London last year, will be presented in Lichfield on Friday 24th March (12 noon, The George Hotel) as part of the Lichfield Literary Festival. Tickets can be booked on the Lichfield Festival’s website.

This follows a successful launch in the Black Country at the Wolverhampton Literature Festival, on Black Country Radio and in BlackcountryMan, showcasing pictures such at the top of the page.

The JL Petit Society is now active on social media. Find us on Instagram, Linked-In, Tik-Tok and Facebook @The Petit Society. Our Instagram posts often receive several thousand views.

November 2022

The book launch received wide media coverage in newspapers (eg The Guardian), magazines (eg Country Life, Antique Collecting) and over ten outlets in total.

The Society’s registration as a charity was accepted by the Charity Commissioners. This has big potential implications for what might be accomplished. The Bishop of Lichfield, Dr Michael Ipgrave is a patron of the Society.

August 2022

The long awaited first, introductory, book is ready and will be launched on 12th September 2022. J L Petit – Britain’s Lost Pre-Impressionist is so far gaining several very positive endorsements and reviews, with a big launch planned for September 13th, to include a pop-up exhibition – the first since 1869 and introductions by Dr Robin Simon, editor of the British Art Journal, and Andrew Graham-Dixon.

Andrew Graham-Dixon, author of A History of British Art, and broadcaster has written:

“There has been nothing like this in the field of British art for a long time. This book marks the rediscovery of a more or less completely forgotten master – an artist whose work, particularly in the medium of watercolour, reaches the highest peaks of innovation and virtuosity, worthy of comparison with that even of Turner. High praise, but not too high.

What is also extraordinary about Petit’s work is the breadth of his subject matter and his
remarkable lack of sentimentality.
Few Victorian artists chose to bear witness to the effects of the Industrial Revolution on the fabric of life in this country, but Petit did anything but shy away from it: he painted factories and smogs with the same impassioned interest that he brought to the more traditional themes of the English watercolorist, such as village, church and cathedral.”

March 2022

The first new publication this year is now available from us directly, prior to launch in the Spring/Summer. Clarke, Petit and St Mark’s – A 19th Century Journey on the Isle of Man.

This booklet tells the story of John Thomas Clarke (1798-1888), Petit’s lifelong friend, who transformed the derelict district of St Mark’s, Isle of Man, with Petit’s help; and then late in life rescued Petit’s church at Caerdeon after Petit had tied, becoming its first vicar. Like Petit, Clarke has been forgotten even at St Mark’s through a combination of intrigue and accident. The booklet (48 pages) illustrates nearly all known Petit’s watercolours – 26, which have never been seen before.

October 2021

Research has now switched to North Wales and The Isle of Man. Petit had a long standing relationship with the Island which bore fruit after his death when his church at Caerdeon was saved by the intervention of his friend John Thomas Clarke, in his 75th year. More specifically it has led to the discovery of nearly thirty Petit pictures of the Island that were not known before and together constitute some of the most remarkable art of the Island from the mid-19th Century. To be published in a few months.

The remnants of an early album with 38 pictures still intact was discovered in a dealers store-room and acquired for the Society. They are mostly marine pictures from the Stour, Harwich and the attached of the Thames.

August 2021

We and The Historian were delighted with the entries for the first annual essay prize for school students. The winning essay is here. It demonstrates our view that Petit, because of his modern views and steadfast opposition to prevailing orthodoxy, is very accessible to a younger generation.

June 2021

Research continued with completion of a book on Petit’s art, which should be published early in 2022. This will be a milestone in the Petit world, since the only existing book is oriented more to the midlands. It sets out Petit’s significance in foreshadowing many aspects of impressionism in contrast to his UK peers. 

1. Information boards in Lichfield are now up. One in St Michael’s churchyard near the family vault, and one, shared with the The Johnson Society, on Tamworth St in the City Centre where Petit formerly lived with his mother and sisters. 
2. The two albums of Petit’s pen and ink drawings for his first book were dumped unattributed in a small local auction. 220 of the 285 drawings have been rescued by the Society and its individual members. Conservation is underway. We plan to offer limited edition prints of the drawings for sale through the website.
3. The schools project has started (see special page). We are sponsoring an essay prize through the Young Historian annual essay competition. So far 8 schools are participating.

   

4. An article has been published in The Historian, concerning St James, Gerrards Cross (architect Sir William Tite, 1857) and Petit’s influence on the design. The evidence is circumstantial but strong, since Petit had long advocated this style. Tite later acknowledged his debt. We hope it will lead to an upgrading of this church.