SKU: 6660
Barbara Jones (1912 - 1978)
Study for Man at Work – a century of technical and social progress, 1961
£2,800.00
Privately Held
Barbara Jones (1912 - 1978)
Signed and dated 1950
Tempera on panel,
48 x 72 in. (122 x 183 cm)
Size:
Height – 122cm x Width – 183cm
Exhibited: The V&A, London, First Exhibition of The Society of Mural Painters, organised by The Arts Council, 1950 (label to reverse)
Literature: Artmonsky, Ruth, A Snapper Up of Unconsidered Triffles, A tribute to Barbara Jones, illustrated p 114
A time traveller visiting mid twentieth-century Britain would discover a
painted world. Restaurants, department stores, schools and hospitals were
filled with murals painted by the best artists of the day. Aside from a few
celebrated examples (think Rex Whistler at Tate Britain), most of these
have disappeared, and in many cases not even a photograph survives. This
is true of the numerous murals painted by Barbara Jones, but occasionally
we find a treasure that has escaped the general destruction, whether a
mural itself or a study, as this seems to be. The Resort, which was shown
at the First Exhibition of the Society of Mural Painters (the Victoria and
Albert Museum, 1950), may have been related to Jones’ preparations for
the Festival of Britain in 1951, but almost seventy years later it stands by
itself as a work of great individuality and charm. Jones was taught by Eric
Ravilious, and there are hints here of her teacher’s preoccupations with
nautical design, improbably delicate structures and idiosyncratic wheeled
vehicles. Her imaginative world has its own style, however, and its own
distinctive palette. As so often with Jones, we see perspective and scale
treated with a childlike playfulness, but it is clear that a sophisticated
visual intelligence is at work. There’s a constant back and forth of dark
against light, light against dark, and a beguiling clarity of vision. We
sense that the scene, though in no way realistic, is real, and we share the
curiosity and awe of the children admiring the deep sea diver as the ice
cream seller looks on.
Commentary by James Russell, independent art historian and curator, most notably of exhibitions at Dulwich Picture Gallery devoted to Eric Ravilious (2015) and Edward Bawden (2018).
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Barbara Jones first attended art school in Croydon (1931’33) before
winning a scholarship to the Royal College of Art (1933’36), where
she met painter Cliff Barry whom she married in 1941.
A prolific and varied artist, during WWII she worked with
the Pilgrim Trust on the Recording Britain series, making one of
the largest contributions of the 63 artists taking part. She wrote
and illustrated books on design history, many of which are today
considered seminal, including The Unsophisticated Arts, 1951 and
Design for Death, 1967.
In 1951, she organised the Black Eyes and Lemonade: Curating
Popular Art exhibition held at the Whitechapel Gallery for the Festival
of Britain. A fellow of the Society of Industrial Artists from the same
year, she was made vice president in 1969. She was also a fellow of
the Royal Anthropological Institute and a member of the Society of
Authors. A retrospective exhibition of the contents of her studio was
held at Katharine House Gallery, Marlborough, in 1999.
With thanks to artbiogs.co.uk
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