It is with great sadness that we share news of the passing of Arnolfini co-founder Annabel Rees.
Annabel was 19 when she helped to set up Arnolfini with Jeremy Rees (whom she would later marry), and the painter John Orsborn.
Her love of art had been encouraged when she was young by her father. She studied art at Chelsea and the Central School, where she specialised in textile design.Annabel met Jeremy in London in 1957 whilst he was at the London College of Print. They stayed in touch while he did his national service in Sierra Leone, when she would write to him about exhibitions she had seen, and he would share his idea to set up a contemporary arts centre.
They were both in Bristol by 1960, where Arnolfini opened on the 3 March 1961.
They each contributed their own money towards the lease of a space above a bookshop on the Clifton Triangle. In the early years, she worked in the gallery and often features in photographs of the exhibitions from that time, as an incredibly stylish young woman.
While raising her family, Annabel remained closely involved with Arnolfini as a board member and advocate for the organisation, maintaining a significant presence throughout the 1970s and 1980s.
Annabel stayed in contact with Arnolfini after Jeremy left the organisation in 1986, and was a regular visitor in recent years, travelling to Bristol from her home in west Wales. We last saw her at the preview of Emma Talbot, in the company of her family.
We fondly remember her as a highly intelligent, witty, kind woman, deeply immersed in the arts. Arnolfini would not have been the same without her.
We send our warmest sympathies to her daughters Natasha and Justine, and all the family.
The stories and recollections shared here are drawn in part from an oral history interview recorded with Annabel in recent years, preserving her invaluable account of Arnolfini’s beginnings.
“It was a pleasure and a privilege to meet Annabel last year when she attended an event here to mark the 50th anniversary year of Arnolfini moving into Bush House. We reminisced together and began a conversation which I hoped to continue over many years, so it was desperately sad to hear of her passing. Few of us have the chance to do something truly remarkable in our life but Annabel did – her talent and passion was essential to Arnolfini’s creation story and her legacy very much lives on in today’s Arnolfini. We know just how much she will be missed by family, friends and the wider Arnolfini community, but hope we can continue to work in a way that keeps Jeremy and Annabel’s original vision vital and as powerful as ever.” – Suzanne Rolt, Director, Arnolfini
Header image: A portrait of Annabel Rees in front of artwork by Sister Corita Kent at the exhibition preview: Still I Rise at Arnolfini, 13 September 2019. Photographer Lisa Whiting