GALLERY owner and art enthusiast Hugh Dunphy is singing the praises of Jamaican art.

Dunphy, an Englishman who has lived in Jamaica since the 1960s, is the propietor of Bolivar Gallery in St Andrew. He says Jamaican art has become more diverse thanks to the popularity of intuitive and primitive painters.

“Many artistes are not looking to Europe for training as they did in the early days. Now the influence is more diverse… more independent, you could say.”

He said the growth of local art is vital.

“For a small place, we have a lot of good artists,” Dunphy tells Sunday Observer.

“The bad artists are what’s bad about it… They are not all wonderful artists, [but] they are all trying and a remarkable number of people make a living from art. You see it on the street, you see it going from office to office and loads of people have Jamaican art collections. That means that Jamaica is a country that is enthusiastic about art,” he notes.

Dunphy’s comments came on Thursday evening at the opening of an exhibition featuring his collection of paintings by celebrated Jamaican artist Ralph Campbell at the Bolivar Gallery.

The 26-painting exhibition hangs until June 15.

Dunphy says Campbell is his favourite Jamaican artiste. He has been collecting his paintings since 1965.

“I have had the collection for some time and always wanted to do something like this to remind people, especially since he has been dead since 1985, and many people are not aware of his work and the high quality.”

Campbell was one of the primal figures in the modern Jamaican art movement, which started in the 1930s with Edna Manley. He studied with Manley before going to England to further his studies.

At Thursday’s event, Dunphy presented the government and people of Jamaica with a Campbell piece, Beverley and Michael — a portrait of former prime minister Michael Manley and his fourth wife Beverley Anderson. The gift was accepted by state minister Arnaldo Brown.

“I feel it was only proper to give something back to Jamaica. The piece is very appropriate as it features two national figures — key figures in Jamaican history and in a 100 years time, somebody will ask ‘who is that’ and a teacher will have to explain,” he says.

Campbell’s contemporary, master painter Barrington Watson, opened the exhibition. He described Campbell as a humble man with extraordinary talent and noted that they shared similar ideas about what Jamaican art should be and its place on the world stage.

Watson stated that Campbell’s signature was the freedom with which he executed his craft.

That point was echoed by Dunphy: “He took liberties with the rules and got away with it because of how he painted with emotion. One of the secrets to great art is how it arouses emotions in you when you look at it.”