WEST Berkshire Museum is currently hosting an exhibition of paintings by Christopher Hall RBA, RCA (1930-2016), the highly accomplished professional artist who lived in the Newbury area almost all of his life.

Organised by two of his sons, Anthony and Robert Hall, Christopher Hall – Around the World seeks to highlight the artist’s love of travel, and the common themes of what appealed to his eye in such diverse places as Italy, France, Ireland, North America, Portugal, Wales and Thailand, as well as locally and in other English regions.

Christopher was born in Sussex, but soon moved with his family to West Berkshire, which was to be home for the rest of his life. Apart from a brief sojourn in the US during the Second World War, his childhood was spent around Inkpen and Enborne, where he developed his love of the countryside and his passion for cricket.

He was educated at Bedales School, in Hampshire, and then, after National Service in Malaya, he studied painting at the Slade School of Art in London.

After graduating, Christopher went on an extended painting trip to Italy, where he met and subsequently married his wife Maria. Their first home was in Aldermaston, before settling in Newbury for the remainder of their days, raising their family of three boys along the way.

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Christopher became a pillar of the community, working hard as a local councillor for many years, and serving as mayor of Newbury in 1967.

The exhibition coincides with the launch of the second book on an area particularly favoured and frequently depicted by Christopher. Both written by Anthony Hall, this one, entitled Christopher Hall’s Wales, its Landscapes and People, is a sumptuously illustrated account of the artist’s relationship with the principality from his first painting trips in the early 1960s until shortly before he died in 2016. It follows Anthony’s earlier publication on his father’s paintings of Italy.

Over six decades, Christopher produced some 4,000 oil paintings.

He exhibited at numerous galleries in London and around the country, and his paintings were frequently selected for the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition.

He also regularly showed at the Royal Cambrian Academy, where he was proud to be elected a member.

The National Library of Wales, the Museum of London and Reading Museum are just some of the many public institutions, along with innumerable private collections which hold examples of his work.

The paintings being shown now are selected from the family’s own extensive collection, some of which are available for sale.

The exhibition runs until Sunday August 4.

Copies of the new book will also be available or please send enquiries to hallantvin@outlook.com