Artwork of the Month: Balconies on the Rhine by Janet Patterson
21 October 2025
This month, the artwork was chosen by our very own staff members here at St George's Hospital Charity. Our Art Collection Officer, Rachel, led the discussion of the artworks and the vote in a team meeting earlier this month.
This month, Rachel shortlisted three artworks from St George's Art and Heritage Collection on the theme of 'transport'. While all the artworks included a mode of transport, the journeys may not always have been literal. After discussing all the artworks, and the first ever Artwork of the Month tie-breaker, the team voted for Balconies on the Rhine by Janet Patterson as their artwork of the month.
About the artwork:
In this artwork, three figures can be seen on a balcony overlooking a wide river. One sits on a sun-lounger, another gazes across the river, and a third shadowy figures stands further behind. Two ships pass in opposite directions across the river and a town can be seen on the far side of the river, encircled by a mountain range.
The river at the centre of the painting is the River Rhine. The second-longest river in Europe, the Rhine originates in the Swiss Alps and passes through Lichtenstein, Austria, Germany and France before reaching the North Sea in the Netherlands.
This artwork inspired a range of responses from the team at St George's Hospital Charity, from ominous to contemplative. Some wanted to know the relationship between the three figures in the painting. One member of the team noticed that most of the lines in the painting were horizontal, including the travel of the boats, the river, and the railings. The exceptions are the three figures, which stand vertically and draw the eye. A few members of the team spoke about the stillness of the painting, the river is disturbed only by the passage of the boats and the figures are still. They commented that it made the painting feel calm and reflective.
About the artist:
Janet Patterson is Scottish painter. She trained at the Slade School of Fine Art between 1960 and 1964, and completed a MA in Arts Criticism at City University, London, and a MA in Art and Media Practice at University of Westminster.
She is also a retired lecturer and teacher. She has lectured at various art institutions including Liverpool College of Art, Edinburgh College of Art, and Loughborough College of Art.
Her artwork is informed by her travels. She has received multiple travel scholarships, including a French Govenment Scholarship and a Churchill Fellowship which enabled her to travel to Australia in 1987.
She moved to London in 1990, where she set up a studio in Stepney Green. Her work has been exhibited both in the UK and abroad.
Arts St George’s (part of St George’s Hospital Charity) is the arts programme for St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. To find out more, follow us on socials @artsstgeorges, or follow Arts St George's - St George's Hospital Charity
The 'Our Hospital: conserving, curating and responding to St George’s Art and Heritage Collection’ is a three-year project, funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund and made possible by money raised by National Lottery players. The project is focusing on conserving, cataloguing, reinterpreting and digitising St George’s Hospital’s unique Art and Heritage Collection so it can be enjoyed by many more people.
