Win this original painting of Five Fournier Street, in Spitalfields, London, worth £150. Sign up to my newsletter to enter the free draw

This watercolour preparation study of Five Fournier Street, London is 13cm x 21cm signed, and mounted on acid-free card. The newsletter will be sent out on the 30th July 2020. I look forward to your sign up in the box on this page. There will be draw and newsletter about once a month so there are plenty more in the future. In each I give away free paintings, drawings, exhibition tickets and prints with my newsletters.

Please note, you are also automatically entered for all future draws as long as you are still signed up. I painted this picture of Five Fournier Street after visiting an art exhibition of East End paintings by Peri Parkes. I really enjoyed the exhibition so afterwards I decided to do this painting. Fournier Street is a street of 18th Century houses and is named after a man of Huguenot extraction, George Fournier.

Who were the Huguenots?

The Huguenots were a group of French refugees exiled by the Louis XIV because of their protestant faith. They traditionally worked as silk weavers so, on arrival here, they began weaving again, building these fine houses with the profits.

Over time the Huguenots were absorbed into the British population, although many Huguenot names still survive.  Even some British citizens viewed as most BRITISH are of Huguenot extraction. A few examples being:

  • Eddie Izzard, English comedian, actor
  • Derek Jacobi, English actor
  • Laurence Olivier, English actor
  • Simon Le Bon, English musician and front-man of pop-rock band
  • Daphne du Maurier, English writer
  • Peter de la Billière, British military commander

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