Rose Wylie

Arial as a Butterfly, 2020
Coloured pencil, graphite, and collage on paper
30 x 21 cm

 

Rose Wylie (b.1934) studied at Folkestone and Dover College of Art from 1952-56.

 

Arial as a Butterfly (2020) references Ariel singing in The Tempest (Act V, Scene I):

Where the bee sucks, there suck I:

In a cowslip's bell I lie;

There I couch when owls do cry.

On the bat's back I do fly

After summer merrily.

Merrily, merrily shall I live now

Under the blossom that hangs on the bough.

 

The song uses imagery of nature to describe Ariel's anticipated freedom, where he will be sucking nectar, resting in flowers, and dwelling under the blossom. The song is a powerful expression of Ariel's desire for autonomy and a symbol for the cultural programme at The Grand.

 

The work is installed in The Green Room, the former Music Room, and its unveiling coincided with Thomas Adès’ performance on 18 April 2026 – apposite as he composed The Tempest opera, which premiered at the Royal Opera House in 2004 and has been widely performed internationally.

 

Courtesy Verdella Caracciolo di Forino

 

          The Green Room

 

Biography

Rose Wylie (b. 1934) has become known for her uniquely recognisable, colourful, and exuberant compositions. Wylie studied at Folkestone and Dover School of Art, Kent, and the Royal College of Art, London, from which she graduated in 1981.

 

Select solo exhibitions include: Rosenwald-Wolf Gallery, University of the Arts, Philadelphia (2012); Jerwood Gallery, Hastings (2012); Tate Britain, London (2013); Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin (2015); Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff (2016); Turner Contemporary, Margate (2016); Serpentine Gallery, London (2017); Plymouth Arts Centre and The Gallery at Plymouth College of Art (an exhibition that travelled to Newlyn Art Gallery and The Exchange, Cornwall); Centro de Arte Contemporáneo de Málaga, Spain (2018).

 

In 2020, where i am and was, the artist’s first solo museum presentation in the United States, was at the Aspen Art Museum in Colorado. In 2022, the Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst (S.M.A.K.), Ghent, Belgium, presented the exhibition picky people notice...,. A large survey exhibition was held at Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern, Switzerland in 2025. In 2026, Wylie became the first female British painter to have an exhibition across the Royal Academy of Arts, London, in its history.