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Another local art exhibition
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Message
Posted
I've found another exhibition/competition and having decided not to enter the one at the library, obtained a leaflet for this venue - a theatre this time.
Again, I am puzzled by their T & Cs. They insist that mirror plates be fitted to paintings - top and bottom. Is this usual?
Also they say their commission on any sales is 15% plus 17.5% VAT on top of the commission - either they are recycling last year's leaflets or VAT has surreptitiously gone back to 17.5%
One more thing - this exhibition is for artists over 60, photo with article in local rag shows 3 paintings - all of which have pensioners as the subjects.
Why would I want to paint grey hair and wrinkles when I can see that every time I look in the mirror! IF I enter, they will get my wolf painting whether they like it or not
(lol)
Posted
You never know, but I think you'll be very lucky to identify the artist responsible for these; they probably are Gouache, or watercolour with a touch of body colour, as you say; and they were produced in the 50's until recently in huge quantities by commercial artists for every kind of product. These are particularly well painted. I seem to remember that these were sometimes available in transfer form; or to be cut out and pasted in the scrapbooks some of us used to keep in the days before electricity..... I'd be as interested as you to find out who painted them, but it could have been an awful lot of people, assuming they were all from the same hand...<div>
</div><div>How many of us could do this sort of illustration, reliably, consistently, and in such quantity, now, I wonder? We don't have to, of course; but let's hope the skills don't get lost. </div>
Posted
Thank you both for your comments. I'm sure it isn't Norman Rockwell.
The company they were produced for was Trufood Ltd. (I'm hoping I'm allowed to post company names) and they were taken over by Cow & Gate in 1955.
I do know that the purpose of the posters (roughly imperial size) was to brighten up the walls of baby clinics in the fifties, having contacted the Wiltshire & Swindon History Society. They hold the national archives for Trufood and Cow & Gate. They know of the existence of these posters but have no copies (they want mine!). There is a reference to them in the BJN Sept. 1950. I contacted C & G media but they weren't interested.
Maybe the artist worked on the Ladybird book series.
I didn't consider that they maybe the work of more than one Artist. They are very accomplished works really, perhaps a bit 'twee' but I guess they served their purpose as an educational aid.
My father had a small commercial studio and one of the Artists he used freelance was Joe Lynch (they were friends from Napier). Of course, he is well known for his airbrush work of ladies (?) but my fathers studio produced many artists impressions of proposed buildings etc. One artist would work on the technical perspective whilst Joe (or Jo) would work on the impressionistic background and sky. I met Joe a few times as a nipper, quite an imposing bloke.
I'm going to post an image of one of the Trufood posters in the hope that it won't incur any wrath. I have a couple of other leads to follow so I'll let you know if I find anything. Thanks again. Rob.
Edited
by Rob Pullen
Posted
The illustrations are by Norman Rockwell, he had a distinctive representational style. Also, he was employed for many years by one of the big US weekly magazines, so he wouldn't have the need to do adverts for a British company.
,
Similarly,I'm sure the illustrations aren't by Mabel Lucie Atwell, - children in her work had an exagerated plumpness and rosiness.
You could try an enquiry on the art history section of the forum on wetcanvas.com
Posted
You're right, I missed out the "not". Sorry about that.
The wet canvas site is worth persevering with. There's often questions in the history section about the name of an artist related to an unidentified picture.
At the moment the section is going through a dull phase when all the viewers want to do is play a guessing game - a member selects a painting, posts it, and other members are asked to guess the artist.
Genuine queries can be interesting to read, and there are some very knowledgeable members who can match an artist with an obscure painting.
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