New eyes on the Newbery Prize

Art lover and master tailor Jeremy Gower is relaunching a classical art competition, its original creator was an ambitious young Dorset artist

-  Jeremy Miles

When Dorset-based master tailor Jeremy Gower bought an ailing business he thought it would help him provide embellishments and trimmings - passementerie as it is known in the business - for the bespoke clothes he designs and makes.

He soon discovered that he was getting much more than a license to frill. For his purchase, last year of the long-established firm of Henry Newbery and Co. came complete with an illustrious Dorset history and a generous prize fund for an almost forgotten classical art competition.

Gower, best known for his Thomas Crown fine tailoring business, is himself a keen collector and lover of art and decided the opportunity was ripe to offer the major prize once again for artists in the classical style. On 15th May this year, he will officially relaunch the Newbery Arts Prize - an award that dates back 145 years and comes complete with a head-turning prize fund of over £75,000.

He will offer three separate £25,000 awards for winners of a trio of categories: Painting & Drawing, Sculpture, and Architecture. There will also be a People’s Prize of 100 guineas (£105) and a special commission for the artist best liked by the public.

This final award is a direct reference to the competition’s 19th-century roots. For the Newbery Arts Prize was first launched in 1875 by Francis Henry Newbery, an ambitious young Dorset artist, and educationist who was determined to make his mark on the international art world.