Every year I find that Christmas galvanises me into making sure that I’ve used or enjoyed the previous years presents before more come along. And so it was that I found myself making the time to read (not just look at the pictures) of this book.
Evelyn Dunbar was born in 1906 and never wanted to be anything other than a painter. She had a natural talent which she developed through school and various formal societies of art. I loved these illustrated letters which are works of art in themselves.
Her first public commission was a painting in the series of Brockley murals which were frescoes’ in a boy’s county school. Evelyn had a natural love of gardening and a wide horticultural expertise which put her in good stead to combine it with her artistic abilities and to illustrate a variety of books and gardening manuals.
The outbreak of World War 2 in 1939 put paid to the little gallery that Evelyn had just opened that year over her sisters shop. Conditions for artists were grim and she struggled to make ends meet. She wrote to the War Advisory Committee (WAC) which had been set up to keep artists from being killed fighting and to keep culture and art thriving through the war, to be selected for a role as a war artist.
Artists were appointed on merit to make a record of the war be it either fact, drama or human emotion. They were commissioned to paint anything from general life in war-torn Britain to land work to the making of armaments. I love this painting above of women knitting comforts for soldiers. You can almost hear the needles clicking and I love the composition and the way the mustard yellow snakes a pathway that leads your eye through.
Evelyn was commissioned to paint several scenes of nursing life in WW2. This is the Hospital Train which brought evacuees’ up into safer areas and soldiers to where hospital’s had space to tend to them.
This was a fairly ground breaking composition back in Evelyn’s day. She has recorded several nurses duties within one painting by taking snapshot’s of various grade nurses at their duties. This is the kind of composition that we are very familiar with now through photography and mosaic making software.
She also spent a lot of time at training camps for the Women’s Land Army where she documents communal life (such as below) or women training and then providing agricultural support. It was important to show the enemy that Britain was thriving and continuing to have a cultural life and so these paintings became part of a popular touring exhibition. These paintings have become important documents of the change in role that women discovered which had hitherto been the province of men.
Evelyn’s work provides authentic detail and social historic content. They encapsulate a moment which is maybe why they are popular again at this time where we are relatively nostalgic.
I love the colour palate that Evelyn painted with. I don’t know if it is just representative of the colours widely used and available during the war or whether she enhanced certain aspects, but I love the greys matched with teal and mustard which identify the painting as her work. She captures the monotony of war and the enforced waiting here, which was a side of war life not often documented.
When the war was over, so were the regular commissions and Evelyn almost started out again. It’s here that I find her story so inspiring because by now you’d think she was a famous national artist and that she probably had it made for life but actually it reminded me that we can easily fantasize other people’s journeys and hers was a struggle as much as we probably feel our own creative journey’s are.
- Evelyn Dunbar
- She really sadly died suddenly aged just 54 years old whilst out walking with her husband one evening. Apart from liking her work in an aesthetic way, Evelyn Dunbar’s life reminds me to not be elated by the highs or destroyed by the lows of the creative path but to live each day fully and to paint.
- Edited to add: When I published this WordPress awarded me with a gold star as it was 365th post!
12 comments
Comments feed for this article
December 13, 2011 at 6:30 pm
Stephanie
Claire, I love these posts of yours. I feel completely absorbed in the paintings you choose to share with us and the words you thread together to explain the motivating forces behind the artist’s inspiration.
Thank you.
December 13, 2011 at 8:02 pm
Annie
What a perfect post! I adore Evelyn Dunbar’s work. I think Standing by on Train 21 is one of my favourites – they are of course knitting – but Sproutpicking in Monmouthshire is probably my absolute favourites, something about the colours.
December 13, 2011 at 9:25 pm
sue
Lovely post Claire, a lovely respite from Christmas craziness! Such an interesting artist and such charming paintings.
December 13, 2011 at 9:49 pm
Lesley
Claire, what a truly fascinating post. I am ashamed to say Evelyn Dunbar is unknown to me but I am now going to search out the book and look at more of her work. You are so right about the colour palette she uses. They are wonderfully moody, evocative colours. The images are so ‘of their time’ and yet so contemporary looking too. What a visual treat. Thank you!
December 13, 2011 at 10:00 pm
Scrapiana
Well, how delightful! I hadn’t heard of Evelyn Dunbar – for shame. What a glorious style. I love her use of that mustard-gold in so many of those WW2 pictures. Will look out for more of her work. Thank you.
December 14, 2011 at 11:49 am
Niki, unifiedspace
What a great collection of vintage art work you’ve pulled together. I really like the Knitting Party and it’s interesting to see its executed in colours that you could describe as “on trend” for today’s interiors. I really enjoyed your post, the images and your points, thank you.
December 14, 2011 at 11:51 am
Niki, unifiedspace
ps they remind me a bit of Eric Ravillious’s work
December 14, 2011 at 1:05 pm
Claire
I think they were peers 🙂
December 14, 2011 at 9:00 pm
Helen Philipps
Beautiful post…thank you for sharing this lovely work and introduing me to someone I hadn’t heard of before …(but wish I had). So interesting, thanks, Claire.
Helen x
January 4, 2012 at 10:30 pm
Patricia G
Thank you for sharing this artist’s work and your descriptions. Her work shows women’s lives through those times without sentimentality. A social history. Great post, congratulations!
January 7, 2012 at 6:59 pm
Rob
Evelyn Dunbar known by her ‘maiden artist name’ to us was “Mrs. Folley” (pronounced “Folly”). With no children of her own she fostered two boys from a local care home during school holidays. I was one of those lads now aged 67. I’m so pleased to locate this delightful blog. Thank you Claire. (Agree wholeheartedly re her contemporary Eric Ravillious whose work is wonderful)
July 16, 2012 at 2:32 pm
Claire Spencer
Dear Claire, What an excellent webiste you have made. I am so keen to find interesting women painters as we are so under-represented in Exhibitions, the press etc. Good work!
Claire