Forthcoming

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)

December for the Country Life 1938 Gardeners Diary

SKU: 10233
Pen and ink on paper
Presentation:
framed

Size:
Height – 22.5cm x Width – 23cm

DESCRIPTION

Provenance:
The Artist’s Estate
Exhibitied:
Sanctuary, Artist-Gardeners, 1919-39, Garden Museum, London, 25th February ‚5 April, 2020
literature:
Christopher Woodward, Sanctuary: Artist-Gardeners, 1919‚ 1939, published by Liss Llewellyn, 2020


In 1937 Country Life Ltd. ‚Äì a satellite publishing entity of the eponymous magazine ‚Äì commissioned Dunbar to create the 1938 Gardener’s Diary. 

Rich in vignettes and horticultural quotations ranging from the Book of Job to Thomas Hardy, the core artwork in Dunbar’s images of the months, each of which takes human form: female in the gentler months ‚Äì February (idem CAT 65; Evelyn Dunbar: A Life in Painting pages 224/5) with crocus flowers and daffodil shoots in her hat, and April (Lost Works CAT 69; A Life in Painting pages 226/7) jauntily wearing a bird’s-nest hat and carrying attributes of topiary and a garden frame. 

Occasionally these months are autobiographical: April is the month in which Evelyn’s baby by Mahoney would have been born had she not miscarried. July is definitely a male month with its abundance of cabbages and onions, as is November, the season for bonfires and general clearance. Dunbar was not one to waste a good idea or design, and some of these personifications recur as the principal motifs in An English Calendar (Lost Works CAT 71; A Life in Painting pages 229-231), the 6 foot square decoration she painted in 1938. 

Dunbar delighted in personifying abstract conceptions, returning to this device in Seven Days (Lost Works CAT 72; A Life in Painting page 239) and in her projected Faith, Hope and Charity (Lost Works CAT 109). 

We are grateful to Christopher Campbell-Howes for assistance.

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THE ARTIST

Evelyn Dunbar
Evelyn
Dunbar
1906 - 1960

Evelyn Dunbar studied at Rochester School of Art, Chelsea School
of Art (1927) and the Royal College of Art (1929’33). She painted
murals from 1933 -36 at Brockley School, a collaboration with her
RCA tutor (and lover) Cyril Mahoney (1903’1968) and in 1937
they wrote and illustrated together Gardeners’ Choice. 

In 1938 she set up the Blue Gallery in Rochester, exhibiting her
own work alongside that of Edward Bawden (1903’1989) and
Barnett Freedman (1901’1958) and others. In 1940 she was
appointed an official war artist, becoming the only woman (amongst
36 men) to be given a full time salaried position by the WAAC. 

She held her only solo exhibition at Withersdane, Wye, Kent
in 1953, although the WAAC included numerous pieces in touring
exhibitions ranging from Aberdeen Art Gallery to MOMA, New York. 

A posthumous exhibition was held in 2006 at St Barbe
Museum and Art Gallery, and in 2015 Liss Llewellyn mounted a
major retrospective of her recently rediscovered studio at Pallant
House Gallery. 

MORE PICTURES BY ARTIST

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Children and Cats

£425.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Eat More Fruit

£1,150.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Children Undressing in the Nursery

£625.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Children’s Stories, 1925

£750.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
My feline friend

£595.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Some Games…We all fall down!

£900.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Humpty Dumpty!

£1,750.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
May Day Celebrations

£2,500.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Service! c. 1924

£425.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Laddie, The Intruder, c.1923

£900.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
What fools…c.1926

£685.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Portrait of William Dunbar, 1922

£895.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Woman in Red, c. 1927

£475.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Young Boy Scout, c 1925

£1,250.00

Reserved
Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Girl looking upwards, c.1927
Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Unidentified Woman with Parrot Brooch, c. 1927

£485.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Seated Nude Study

£325.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Reclining Male Nude Study

£490.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Standing Nude Studies

£350.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Head and Shoulders Male Study

£475.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
April Fool!

£480.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Children Playing

£650.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Children’s Illustration with Mice

£350.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Child Playing the Banjo

£375.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Study related to Princess Caroline

£250.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Children in Various Poses

£575.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Study for Children Playing

£175.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Study for Children and Hands

£375.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
The Young Artist, circa 1920

£760.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Unidentified study, c.1956

£775.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Dog Begging for Food

£175.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Work Basket’ Illustration

£175.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Various sketches, mostly of the dancing figure of Pomona for a Christmas card design for 1947

£575.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Nude Study of Woman Sitting

£600.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Nude Study with Hand on Hip

£200.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Seated Nude Study 1

£275.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Figure study for the personification of April for Country Life 1938 Gardener’s Diary, 1937

£580.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Portrait

£375.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Study for Seated Woman reading

£250.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Study for Seated Woman

£250.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Flower Show Illustrations

£135.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Seated Nude Study 2

£350.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Various Figure Studies including a Ballerina

£500.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Nude Study with artist at work

£350.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Nude Figure Studies

£300.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Chalk Nude Study with Sketching Figure in Foreground

£300.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Sitting Nude Study with Umbrella

£200.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Portrait of an Unidentified Woman

£970.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Pencil sketch for Portrait of an Airwoman, 1944

£1,500.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Seated Woman with Sleeping Dog

£1,500.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Portrait of an Unidentified Man, c.1925

£1,375.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Ring-a-ring-a-rosies

£795.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Cape Capers!

£350.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Nude standing with hand on thigh

£600.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Portrait sketch of an unidentified friend

£395.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Sketch of Family Reading

£475.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Studies of Leaves, 1930’s

£1,475.00

Reserved
Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Studies of Dunbar’s sister Marjorie, c.1924.
Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Sketches of men and women involved in various activities, of unknown purpose or destination

£500.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
The Artist at Her Drawing Board, mid-1920s

£450.00

Reserved
Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Sketches of Dunbar’s sister Marjorie (‘Midge’) reading c.1922
Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
The Garden at the Elms

£3,500.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Life Class with full-length female nude in profile

£750.00

Reserved
Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Sketch of unidentified woman sewing.
Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Preliminary study for Mercatora

£385.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Sheet of figure studies with artist looking at herself in a handheld mirror

£800.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Sheet of studies for Mercatora

£800.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Study for allegorical figure

£700.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Study of Charles Mahoney drawing plants

£520.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Faith, Hope and Charity, 1950

£400.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Sheet of non-contemporaneous studies, some with reference to images in Country Life 1938 Gardener’s Diary, others experimenting with Indian ink, c.1948

£975.00

Reserved
Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Art school study of a lady seated on a Windsor chair
Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Study of a young unidentified woman looking into a mirror.

£450.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Woman Selling Watermelon Slices, West Indies

£950.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Muse with Crown, Design for Christmas Card 2

£780.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Study of a Head

£175.00

Reserved
Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
The Artist Painting (an early self-portrait)
Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Children Playing in Various Poses

£500.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Drawing of Cyclamen neapolitanum and Cyclamen Coüm for Gardeners’ Choice, 1937

£900.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Sheet of studies for Gardeners’ Choice

£975.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Studies II for the cover of Gardeners Choice, 1936-37 [HMO 363]

£380.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Various sketches

£650.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Small girl

£385.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Design 2 for personal correspondence

£550.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Preliminary study for Gladiolus tristis

£485.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Studies for Faith, Hope and Charity, 1948

£475.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Hot pie

£975.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Irises and aquilegias

£485.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Sheet with studies of faces in profile, c.1951

£495.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Studies of a seated couple reading scrolls and a woman carrying bowls, mid 1930’s

£550.00

Forthcoming
Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Design for personal correspondence
Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Studies for women’s fashions, c.1925

£390.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Studies of a young woman, circa 1930

£490.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
The Proposal

£940.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Life class study, Royal College of Art, circa 1932

£450.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Sketch of standing woman with hat, holding a cloth

£385.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Portrait of a man with enamel tea-mug

£390.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Sketches of a woman sitting/knitting/sewing, circa 1931

£495.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Sketches of a woman in several poses, circa 1931

£490.00

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Gardener and various sketches, circa 1932

£685.00