Challenging new works by artists from both sides of the English Channel are going on show. Chris Price spoke to Genty Fine Art gallery founder David Genty.

With its bold colours and distinctive lines, the work of Christian Halna du Fretay is described as the art of suggestion. His works and that of other fine artists have long struggled to shake the perception that the genre is beyond the realm of the casual art lover.

A gallery in Tonbridge is doing its best to change that too with a series of exhibitions showing off some of the best work from little-known artists from France and England.

Genty Fine Art was founded in 2005 in France and began hosting exhibitions at Tonbridge’s Tyger’s Head last year. The aim of the gallery is to champion, defend and support contemporary artists like Christian Halna du Fretay, who the gallery has chosen for what it describes as “their mastery of technique and integrity of vision.”

The gallery has been set up by David Genty, a graduate of philosophy at Jesus College, Oxford who took his post-graduate qualifications in the History & Theory of Art under Dr Grant Pooke at the University of Kent at Canterbury. Each artist represented by Genty Fine Art is chosen for their craftsmanship, skill in the handling of materials, colour, energy and the emotional response their work generates.

“I want to show art in an intimate, real, home environment,” said founder David Genty. “Tyger’s Head was built as a small guildhall in around 1420 but was extended and made into dwelling in 1740. So we have contemporary painting and sculpture shown in a charming medieval interior.

“So far the response has been incredibly positive. My guests can see more clearly how a piece would work in their own home.”

The gallery is hosting an exhibition of Christian Halna du Fretay’s work in January. His work is generally absent of detail but far from being seen as something missing, this sends the viewer’s senses to all four corners of the picture.

The gallery then hosts an exhibition of the works of Françoise Bossut and Henry Pierre Troussicot in February. Françoise Bossut is a contemporary expressionist painter working primarily in acrylic on canvas. Her landscapes, seascapes and figures have intensity of colour and contrasts. All are semi-abstract. Meanwhile Troussicot paints what he has learned to see with rigour, sobriety, and discretion. Everything is composed, restrained, controlled, drawn and structured.

In March, the gallery will showcase the works of Brighton University graduate Roger Phillpot. He said: “My work is the consequence of my lasting memories, illuminated by my family’s own recollections.”

Genty Fine Art at Tonbridge’s Tyger’s Head on Church Lane hosts an exhibition of Christian Halna du Fretay’s work on Saturday and Sunday, January 28 and 29. It hosts an exhibition by Françoise Bossut and Henry Pierre Troussicot on Saturday and Sunday, February 25 and 26 and March 3 and 4. There will be an exhibition of Roger Phillpot’s work on Saturday and Sunday, March 24 and 25 and 30 and 31. Admission free. Call 01732 369565 or go to www.genty.co.uk. The gallery opens weekdays by appointment only.