The paintings in this exhibition are inspired by a treacherous journey made by a young woman during the winter of 1944. Aged only twenty-four, Lavinia Ponsonby was instructed by the Ministry of Information in London to travel to work in the British Embassy in Moscow. The usual travel routes were closed because much of Europe was under German Occupation so the only way to get to Moscow was by merchant ship in an Arctic convoy (numbered JW58) which assembled in Loch Ewe, west of Ullapool.
Lavinia was one of the first three women to embark on the voyage, described by Sir Winston Churchill as ‘the worst journey in the world.’ The ships sailed north into the Arctic Circle and finally crunched through the ice to dock in Archangel in northern Russia. From there, Lavinia boarded a train to travel 700 miles south to Moscow.
Mercifully Lavinia survived. She was the mother of the artist Susie Reade.
Seventy-five years later, informed by her mother’s diary, Susie followed in her mother’s footsteps from Scotland to Moscow. She researched the journey by drawing in museums and searching archives in Russia and Britain. Despite in-depth research we still do not know the nature of Lavinia’s work. Excerpts from Lavinia’s diary accompany each group of paintings in this exhibition.
Until 15 October 2022
Small Art Gallery
