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John Moody (1906 - 1993)

Bull at Chessington, August 2nd, 1926

SKU: 4699

Signed on the reverse and inscribed At Chessington 

Oil on panel, 6 1/2 x 8 3/4 in. (16 x 22 cm.)

Presentation:
framed

Size:
Height – 16cm x Width – 22cm

DESCRIPTION

The Moody family lived in Kingston and most of his landscape paintings
were inspired by his locality – Chessington for instance, which at the
time was very rural.   He also made several painting trips down to the
South Coast.  His formative 1926 painting tour, which took in both
sides of the Channel, was undertaken at crucial point in his early
career. He was 20 in 1926 and though determined to pursue his passion
as an artist he was financially vulnerable. A letter from a family
friend in December 1926 cautions him on life as an artist: "I am very
interested in seeing that you have taken up lettering and I congratulate
you on your success. I think you have done a wise and practical thing
in taking up commercial art, but it would be a pity if you did nothing
else. At the start I am afraid you can’t live on doing work that will
live, but you may live on doing work that will not live."

By 1930 Jack, as a founder member of the New Kingston Group, was
exhibiting work around the country and in 1931 was teaching Architecture
and Perspective at the Wimbledon School of Art. Facing penury however
he enrolled as a singer at the Webber Douglas School of Singing which
was to draw him inexorably into theatre life – and eventually into the
world of opera, for which he is best remembered. He never lost his love
of painting.

The extraordinary series which resulted from his 1926 painting spree
were motivated by an interest in light – huge skies, seascapes, white
cliffs and rolling sand dunes. Two years later his Knocke series, on
the Belgian coast, retain similar characteristics whilst adopting a
slightly surreal imagery.We are grateful to Richard Thompson for assistance

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THE ARTIST

John Moody
John
Moody
1906 - 1993

After training at the Royal Academy Schools and working from a studio offered to him by Eric Ravilious (1903 – 1942) and Edward Bawden (1903 – 1989), by the 1930’s, Moody was exhibiting at a variety of London venues and teaching at Wimbledon School of Art; he also became a founder member of the New Kingston Group of painters.  Fascinated by the Theatre he was later well known as an opera producer, commissioning stage sets from John Piper and Robert Medley. 

MORE PICTURES BY ARTIST

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John Moody (1906 - 1993)

The quarter seated nude in bathing costume

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Lady seated on a pew

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Reserved
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John Moody (1906 - 1993)

Still life with pot plant on a tiled ground
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John Moody (1906 - 1993)

Elm trees near Kingston, 1929

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John Moody (1906 - 1993)

War, 1928

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John Moody (1906 - 1993)

Houlgate, Normandy, 1926

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John Moody (1906 - 1993)

Houlgate, Normandy, in Mist, 12th Sept 26

£850.00