How Leeds portrait artist was inspired by Northern Ballet's Casanova

Inspired by Northern Ballet’s production of Casanova, Leeds artist Chris Eastham explores the balletic form in her new exhibition at the Corn Exchange. Catherine Scott reports. Main pictures by Bruce Rollinson
Chris Eastham with some of her work inspired by Northern Ballet's CasanovaChris Eastham with some of her work inspired by Northern Ballet's Casanova
Chris Eastham with some of her work inspired by Northern Ballet's Casanova

Chris Eastham has always been fascinated with the human form. Her portraits saw her through to the quarter finals of Sky Art’s Portrait Artist of the Year in 2020 and for the last two years she has been working with Northern Ballet to capture the joy and connection of dance in her oil paintings. The result is a new exhibition ‘Dance, Joy, Connect’ at the Coles Gallery at the Leeds Corn Exchange.

The exhibition opened to coincide with the first night of Northern Ballet’s production of Casanova at Leeds Grand Theatre. The exhibition runs until April 10.

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This unique collaboration began under lockdown when a series of commissions by ex Premier Dancer (and wife of Casanova director Kenneth Tindall) Hannah Bateman led Eastham to begin painting from Northern Ballet production images, captured by Caroline Holden.

Chris pays a visit to her exhibition in the Corn Exchange LeedsChris pays a visit to her exhibition in the Corn Exchange Leeds
Chris pays a visit to her exhibition in the Corn Exchange Leeds

“I have always been fascinated by ballet and the movement of the dancers and wanted to try to capture that in my paintings,” explains Eastham, who works from a studio in Leeds City Centre, and is a painter and printmaker.

“I was drawing some of the images from Casanova and then I did a mono print commission for Hannah and then I was commissioned to do another piece of Hannah in Geisha which sadly closed quickly due to the pandemic and the first lockdown.

“But we had started to form a bit of a relationship. I asked if I could go in and watch rehearsals when they reopened again so that I could see the dancers in action and not just work from photographs.”

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Northern Ballet studios are just five minutes walk from her own central Leeds studio and it was an opportunity for her to work alongside other creatives and be able to share the results of this collaboration.

Chris Eastham with her works at the Coles Gallery in the Leeds Corn ExchangeChris Eastham with her works at the Coles Gallery in the Leeds Corn Exchange
Chris Eastham with her works at the Coles Gallery in the Leeds Corn Exchange

And as the Company moved back into the studios last year following a period of home-working, Eastham was invited to continue this strand of her work, observing Company dancers live in class and during rehearsals.

“I felt so honoured to be there and I actually think the dancers like to have someone there to watch,” she says.

“It was strange as they were all wearing masks throughout the entire rehearsals, but somehow they managed. They are such athletes. I even attended the dress rehearsal which was amazing.”

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Like David Hockney, Eastham likes to draw on her iPad before going back to her studio to transcribe it onto a canvas using oil paints or via printmaking.

Giuliano Contadini as Casanova and Hannah Bateman as Henriette
Picture: Emma KauldharGiuliano Contadini as Casanova and Hannah Bateman as Henriette
Picture: Emma Kauldhar
Giuliano Contadini as Casanova and Hannah Bateman as Henriette Picture: Emma Kauldhar

“I like working on the iPad, there are real advantages to it; you don’t need to carry around a box of crayons with you and the choice of colours is so wide.

“And then when I transfer it to the canvas I prefer the lusciousness and ease of working with oil based material.”

She has now created giclee prints of the original iPad sketches which are on display and for sale at the exhibition. Giclee is a French term meaning ‘to spray’ referring to how an inkjet printer works and how giclee prints are usually produced.

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Eastham was born in Leeds and trained at Leeds College of Art (now Leeds Arts University), Nottingham Trent University and Reading University to study fine art.

Chris Eastham in her studio in LeedsChris Eastham in her studio in Leeds
Chris Eastham in her studio in Leeds

“I always loved fashion drawing and my mum was in tailoring,” she explains.

“I would draw the designs and my mum would sew them and make them up for me. I did think I would go into fashion when I went to Leeds College of Art, but I didn’t want to do the making side, I just wanted to the drawing side and so I ended up doing fine art.”

Portraiture and the figure were always her passion. After university she embarked on a career in teaching including 15 years at Horsforth School. When she retired early in 2016 she decided to fulfil her ambition of painting full time .

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She was a quarter finalist of Sky’s Arts Portrait Artist of the Year in 2020.

“I really enjoyed it,” she says. “I got to paint actress Zawe Ashton who is beautiful and was wearing a beautiful dress and so it combined my two great loves.”

Ashton said that it was the sense of fun that she had captured in the character that made her choose Eastham’s painting in preference to those of the other competitors.

Chris Eastham at workChris Eastham at work
Chris Eastham at work

She built up such a rapport with Ashton that she commissioned Eastham to paint a picture of her fiancé, the actor Tom Hiddleston from a photograph of him as a child..

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“It was so nice of her, she has been so supportive of my work and she keeps in touch.”

Eastham also teaches at the Leeds Print Works and also holds workshops online passing on her knowledge on mono printing.

With her daughter living in London she has also had the chance to work with Ballet Rambert.

“I love contemporary dance as well as ballet,” she says.

“Good drawing and draughtsmanship are central to all my work in whatever medium, style or content,” says Eastham.

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“I’m not saying that I want my work to be accurate like an anatomical drawing or painting. Of greater importance to me is the expression of ideas and emotions that are true and connect with an audience.”

The compilation of the drawings and paintings which she made while visiting Northern Ballet’s studios, along with a catalogue of work, will be on view until 10 April at Coles Gallery in Leeds Corn Exchange.

The proceeds from sales of the catalogue will go to the victims of the war in Ukraine.

“The exhibition is a celebration of dance, both as a source of joy and connection with others –something which was woefully missing during this last two years,” says Eastham.

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“It will hopefully mark a return to a time in which normal activity, such as visiting the theatre, and art galleries can be enjoyed.”

Northern Ballet’s Casanova is currently on a national tour.

From May 10 to 14 it will be at London Sadler’s Wells theatre before moving to The Lowry in Salford from May 18 to 21.

More information about Christine Eastham’s work and upcoming exhibitions can be found at chrisieastham.co.uk.

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Tickets to Northern Ballet’s Casanova in London and Salford are on sale now, visit northernballet.com to book.

To find out about Christine’s drawing and mono printing classes visit https://leedsprintworkshop.org/

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