Prehistory
The oldest forms of artistic expression discovered in the Channel Islands are engraved stones dating back 15,000 years. Discovered at Les Varines, they are decorated with abstract motifs, lines and concentric designs engraved with a stone tool. Following this creative development characteristic of the Magdalenian period, the first sedentary communities settled on the island. Funerary rites became more organized, as shown by certain dolmens that are now interpreted as collective burials due to the presence of bones. The La Hougue Bie megalith, in the parish of Grouville, is the most important Neolithic site in the entire region. Guernsey is home to some astonishing sculpted rock relics: the "guardian of the tomb" (Déhus dolmen, near Port Bordeaux), depicts an armed hunter; the 1.65 m-high stele of the "Gran'mère du Chimquière" (grandmother of the cemetery) was reputed to protect the fertility of newlyweds.
The collection at the Guernsey Museum at Candie showcases local archaeological finds, particularly Gallo-Roman. Pottery dating back to the Romanization of the islands is also on display.
Towards modern times
Where does Saint Hélier, depicted in the stained-glass windows and for whom Jersey's capital city is named, come from? The monk Hélier was in fact a hermit who came from Belgium to Jersey in the 6th century. The saint lived on the rock where the chapel bearing his name now stands. After the Christianization of the population, the monastic community was very present, until the arrival of the Vikings. Their presence was such that their culture swept away all previous ones. Subsequently, the adoption of Protestantism led to austerity in all areas, particularly the arts.
It wasn't until the 19th century that the Channel Islands' assets inspired painters, at first Anglo-Saxon. In 1832, the Romantic William Turner (1775-1851) drew a series of views of Saint-Peter-Port. William Lionel Wyllie composed some magnificent seascapes. The Jersey Museum, Art Gallery & Merchant's House features a number of painters from this period, including John Le Capelain (1812-1848). Born in London, this landscape painter trained as a lithographer before becoming a self-taught painter. Watercolors enabled him to refine the misty effects of his Jersey views. A collection of his landscapes was presented to Queen Victoria on her visit to the island.
Victor Hugo, the artist
After Louis Napoléon Bonaparte's coup d'état, Victor Hugo took refuge on the islands. He spent fifteen fruitful years there. He was exiled first to Jersey from 1852 to 1855, then to Guernsey. Hauteville House, his Guernsey home, can be considered one of his masterpieces, such was the attention he paid to it. In the restored house, every room and every decorative element expresses something of Victor Hugo's personality. In addition to his literary masterpieces, Victor Hugo drew and took photographs, an art form in its infancy at the time. With his family, he produced mediumistic drawings at Marine Terrace, his Jersey home between 1852 and 1855, which no longer exists today, long before the automatic messages of the Surrealists. The Hugo family discovered spiritualism in 1853. From then on, they "made the tables talk" together, under the hands of his son Charles, the group's medium. The tables dictated words and shapes which, once transcribed onto paper, exerted a decisive influence on Victor Hugo's creativity. In his writings, he would evoke the manifestations of Léopoldine, his missing daughter, from the very first sessions. The freedom of the drawings produced through spiritualism is astonishing. Enigmatic shapes drawn with pen and wash of brown ink emerge on paper. These intriguing and undeniably beautiful drawings make Victor Hugo a trailblazer, and confirm his talent as a draughtsman. To this body of work must be added his photographic explorations. Here too, Hugo was a pioneer. He was ahead of his contemporaries in recognizing the dual potential of photography: to fix memory and nurture creativity. He set up a photographic studio in Marine Terrace, then in Guernsey. Alone or with Charles and Auguste Vacquerie, he filled entire albums. He became an archivist of the history of the exiles, accumulating portraits, sometimes enhanced with paint or collage. All manner of photographed landscapes and settings would fuel his writings and drawings right up to the end of his career. His plastic experiments, wildly innovative for their time, remain in the collection of the Maison Hugo in Paris and Hauteville.
Renoir, impressions of Guernsey
Impressionist Auguste Renoir (1841-1919) painted a series of landscapes and flowers during his stay in Guernsey in 1883. The bay and beach of Moulin Huet appear in all the landscapes he painted during this month. Fun fact: even back then, travel guides recommended this site to artists. Ever since Victor Hugo, the islands have been synonymous with unbridled creativity. Today, a Renoir trail invites you to visit the island in a different way, following in the artist's footsteps. Allow two hours for the walk. Feeling inspired? Painter Frances Lemmon can introduce you to Impressionist techniques in open-air workshops in the park at Candie Gardens, Saint-Peter-Port.
Nowadays
Even today, artists are seduced by the region's luminous palette. In Alderney, artist Bennt Bengtsson opened the first permanent gallery. The Passage Gallery (at Les Rocquettes) combines a studio and exhibition space, and boasts two sculpture gardens. Among the artists on show are Belgium's Isabelle van Brussel, Greece's Olympia McEwan and Alderney's Tobias Hanbury and Christopher Rowley.
To soak up the contemporary energy, the Saint-Helier Art Trail combines public art and hiking. The tour, organized by ArtHouse Jersey, showcases local talent: the surreal landscapes of Abi Overland, the graphic frescoes of Bokra graphiques, the pictorial events of Will Bertram and the refreshing motifs of Keelie Spriggs. The next generation is assured!
