Evelyn Dunbar - War and Country
Part 1: The early Years and the Developing Artist
 |
|
|
|
| Evelyn Dunbar while a pupil at Rochester Grammar School, collection of Elizabeth Bulkeley. |
|
|
|
Evelyn Dunbar holds a unique position in twentieth century British art. She was described by Sir William Rothenstein, principal of the Royal College of Art, as having ‘real genius’ and was the only salaried woman war artist in the Second World War. She is especially known for her lyrical, yet unsentimental paintings of the Women’s Land Army. However, she was also an accomplished muralist and illustrator, as well as an inspiring teacher at The Ruskin School of Drawing and of Fine Art, Oxford.
Evelyn was the youngest of five children, born on 18th December 1906. Her father was a draper and outfitter and her mother, a talented amateur painter, was a major influence on the family taking them into Christian Science, which played a key part in Evelyn’s life as artist and educator.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
Evelyn Dunbar in her garden, collection of Elizabeth Bulkeley. |
|
|
In 1913 the family settled at Rochester, Kent. Dunbar passed the entrance examination to Rochester Grammar School for Girls and attended from 1914 - 1925, gaining many awards from the Royal Drawing Society. It was while living at home in Strood, after leaving school, that she made her first foray into illustration with The Everyday Book for children.
Dunbar spent some time at Rochester School of Art but was advised to attend the Royal College of Art (RCA), which she did from 1929-1933. At the RCA she was greatly influenced by a number of her teachers, including Allan Gwynne-Jones, Percy Horton and in particular by Charles (Cyril) Mahoney. Horton recalled Dunbar as a talented student who had a remarkable gift for drawing and a “strong sense of structural design and a monumental power rare in a woman’s work”.
Next: The Brockley Murals
Part 1: The Early Years and the Developing Artist
Part 2: The Brockley Murals
Part 3: Country and Garden
Part 4: War Artist - Recording the Women's Land Army
Part 5: War Artist - Recording the Home Front
Part 6: Later Years - The Bletchley Murals
"Evelyn Dunbar: War and Country" by Dr Gill Clarke is available from the St. Barbe Museum Book Shop. Click here for a review.
© Dr Gill Clarke 2006. Copyright notice
< Return to the Features page
|
