Over twenty years ago, at Abingdon Museum, there was an exhibition of work by the Abingdon artist, poet and writer Oswald Couldrey, bringing together many of his paintings of Abingdon alongside work produced during the years he spent in India as a teacher and the principal of Rajamundry College of Art in Andra Pradesh.

A new exhibition opens on Saturday 10 January 2026, this time concentrating on Couldrey’s paintings from his years in South India from 1909-19. These are shown in the Sessions Gallery, and include scenes of everyday life, religion, buildings and landscapes observed during his time there. The painting are delightful for their composition, simplicity and light.

The exhibition also has background information about his life and time in India, examples of his writing, and pictures of him as a schoolboy at Roysse School (now Abingdon School).

Couldrey’s Abingdon paintings, from the 1930s, will be on display upstairs in the attic. These now familiar views have been reproduced as posters and postcards since the original exhibition.

The exhibition opens on 10 January and runs until 29 March.