The Art of Eileen Mayo
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SHIFTING BOUNDARIES: THE ART OF EILEEN MAYO A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the University of Canterbury by Margaret Jillian Cassidy University of Canterbury 2000 I\) {I I j : i ) I (' <{! I ~) ' \ Volume 1 v.l Part I CONTENTS Abstract 1 Acknowledgements 11 List of Illustrations 111 Abbreviations lV Chronology Vl Introduction 1 Chapter 1: Background, Character and Early Aliistic Training 18 Chapter 2: The Artist as Illustrator and Author 38 Chapter 3: The Artist as Printmaker 72 Chapter 4: The Artist as Painter 114 Chapter 5: The Artist as Designer I 145 Chapter 6: The Artist as Designer II 179 Conclusion 211 Part II DOCUMENTATION Catalogue of Works 220 Bibliography 288 Volume II Reproductions 1 List of Reproductions 2 Reproductions of work by Eileen Mayo 12 ABSTRACT The artist, Eileen Mayo, D.B.E., was born in Norwich, England in 1906. Educated at the Slade School of Art, University of London (1923 - 24) and at the Central School of Arts and Crafts (1925- 1928), she established a career as an illustrator, painter and printmaker in London in the 1930s. Associated with Claude Flight and the Colour Linocut Movement, her works were exhibited at the Royal Academy and extensively elsewhere, and collected by the Victoria and Albert and the British Museums. Mayo was also active as a model and features in works by leading artists such as Dame Laura Knight and Dod Proctor, another influence on her work. During the 1940s she wrote and illustrated books on natural history, a central theme in her work, as well as expanding her range as a printmaker into wood engraving and lithography. In the early 1950s she undertook a comprehensive study of tapestry design in France, rapidly distinguishing herself in this field. Mayo emigrated to Australia in 1952, becoming established as a leading printmaker, poster and stamp designer. Resident in New Zealand from 1962 until her death in 1994, she continued to develop as a printmaker, stretching the possibilities of relief and silk screen teclmiques, although she achieved greater recognition as a stamp designer during this period. Mayo's career is characterised by her seamless movement between the fine and applied arts, her Atis and Crafts-inspired belief in the right making of things and her uniformly high level of achievement across a wide range of media and gemes. Although early works explore the theatrical world ofDiaghilev's Ballets Russes, her subject matter is overwhelmingly rooted in meticulous observation of the natural world. Her ability to find underlying patterns in nature links her work to the more conservative strains of British modernism. Mayo was an artist who undetiook commercial work in order to support herself. The full range of her output across the diverse media she employed includes illustrations, books, prints, paintings, tapestries, murals, bookplates, posters, tableware, dioramas, stamps and coins and was produced against a background of artistic practice within three countries in which she lived and worked. The artist's working notes and diaries and all known works are documented in a critical catalogue. 11 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am especially grateful to my supervisors Dr. Pamela Gerrish Nunn and Associate Professor Ian Lochhead, for assisting and supporting the research and writing of this thesis. I am also indebted to Dr. Mark Stocker, Linda Tyler and Margaret Harrison for their special insights and involvement in this project. Museum and ati gallery staff, both in England and New Zealand, have been very helpful. I would like to thank the following: Adrian Glew (Tate Gallery Archive), Dr. Judith Collins (Tate Gallery), Stephen Coppell (Print Room, British Museum), Justine McCallum (Australian Museum, Sydney), Marian Minson (Alexander Turnbull Library), Jolm Darby (Otago Museum), Margery Blackman (Otago Museum), and Dr. Robin Craw (Otago Museum). I am much indebted to the following relations and friends of Eileen Mayo who have drawn on their recollections for me and who have given me valuable information and assistance: the late Margery Ball, Josephine Campey, John Gainsborough, Ngaire Hewson, Barry Cleavin and Denise Copland. I would also like to thank those who have helped with the technical preparation of this thesis for submission, particularly Barbara Cottrell and Merilyn Hooper for their pati in preparing the images for the catalogue, Margaret Adam for her assistance with proof reading and Evelyn Knibb for her help and patience in dealing with the idiosycrasies of my computer. I would also like to acknowledge the Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions who introduced me to art history as a child and sustained and financially supported my interest in it over the years. Finally I would like to thank my sisters Pauline Evans and Catherine Gordon, as well as Margaret McKean-Taylor and Sylvia and Gordon Ducker, for their continuing encouragement and suppmi throughout the long process of researching and writing this thesis. 111 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Frontispiece Dod Proctor, Eileen Mayo, c. 1928 Oil on canvas Private Collection, on loan to Penlee House Gallery & Museum, Penzance Fig. 1 Moore, Henry. Reclining Figure, 1929 Fig. 2 Rooke, Noel. Illustration to Bernard Shaw, The Adventures ofthe Black Girl in Her Search for God, London : Constable & Company Limited, 1932,p. 56 Fig. 3 Lewis, Wyndham. Praxitella, 1920- 21 Fig. 4 Bell, Vanessa. Illustration to Virgina Woolfe, Kew Gardens, Folcroft, PA :The Folcroft Press, Inc., 1969, u.p. Fig. 5 Georges Braque. Table, Glass and Pipe, 1913 Fig. 6 Juan Gris. Boueille et Compotier, 1917 Fig, 7 David Jones, Ex Devina Pvlchritvdine, 1956 Fig. 8 Shahn, Ben. Poster design, Ballets USA, 1959 Fig. 9 Proctor, Theo. Cover design, The Home, November 1928 Fig. 10 Lempicka, Tamara. The Flovver Wreath, c. 1932 Fig. 11 Canington, Dora. The fvfill, Tidmarsh, Berkshire, 1918 Fig. 12 Nash, Paul. Harbour and Room, 1932- 36 Fig. 13 Knight, Laura. Baby in Long Clothes, c. 1928 Fig. 14 Proctor, Dod. Study of a Baby : a Poem ofRepose, c. 1927 Fig. 15 The Angiers Tapestries. Apolcalypse series, Scene 48, The Ascension of the Lamb Fig. 16 Mural. The Tree ofInvertebrates, Australian Museum, 1959 Fig. 17 Eileen Mayo. Insect, detail, The Tree ofInvertebrates, 1959 Fig. 18 Shahn Ben. Illustration to Love and Joy about Letters, London: Cory, Adams and MacKay, 1964, p. 7 lV ABBREVIATIONS AAG Auckland Art Gallery, Auckland AG Aigantighe Gallery, Timan1 AGNSW Art Gallery ofNew South Wales, Sydney AGO Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto ATL Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington BAG Baillieu Allard's Gallery, London BL Barry Lett Gallery, Auckland BXAG Beaux-Arts Gallery, Paris BFG Bob Franklin Gallery,USA BM British Museum, London BMAG Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, Birmingham BMB Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, USA CAS Contemporary Art Society, London COCA Centre of Contemporary Art, Christchurch CAC Clifton Art Club, Bristol cc Crafts Centre, London CG Claridge Galle1y, London DJ David Jones, Sydney DAM Dowse Art Museum, Lower Hutt DPAG Dunedin Public Art Gallery FBG Farmers' Blaxland Galle1y, Sydney GG Grubb Group, Quo Vadis Restaurant, Soho, London HL Heal's Mansard Gallery, London HLUO Hocken Library, University of Otago, Dunedin HAG Huddersfield Art Gallery, Huddersfield JG Jane Gladstone Gallery, Sydney JMG John Mmiin Gallery,Sydney JN Johnstone Gallery, Brisbane KMH Killara Memorial Hall, Sydney LG Leicester Galleries, London LTM London Transport Museum, London MAC Macquarrie Gallery, Sydney MAG Manawatu Ali Gallery, Palmerston North MONZ Museum ofNew Zealand, Wellington NBG New Burlington Galleries, London NGA National Gallery of Australia, Canberra NGV National Gallery ofVictoria, Melbourne NLA National Library of Australia, Canberra NV New Vision Gallery, Auckland OM Otago Museum, Dunedin PBG Peter Baxandall Gallery, Sydney RG Redfern Gallery, London RMAG Robert McDougall Ali Gallery, Christchurch v RS Rosslyn Gallery, Dunedin RM Rotorua Museum of Art and History RA Royal Academy, London RIG Royal Institute Galleries, London RSBA Royal Society of British Artists, London SA Several A1is, Christchurch SAC Shanghai Ali Club, China STAC St Augustine's Church, North Sydney ST Suter Gallery, Nelson TAG Timaru Arcade Gallery, Timaru TGA Tate Gallery Archive, London TPL Toledo Public Library, Toledo, Spain uc University Club, University of Canterbury, Christchurch V&A Victoria and Albert Museum, London WG Ward Gallery, London WAG Worthing Art Gallery WMAG Weston Museum and Art Gallery c. corner ill. illustrated 1.1. lower left l.r. lower right u.l. upper left u.p. unpaginated u.r. upper right Vl CHRONOLOGY1 AGE 1906 Eileen Rosemary Mayo was born on the 11 September inNorwich, England. She was the first child ofViolet Elsie Mayo (nee Moss) and Hubert Giles Mayo, Housemaster and Head of Science Department, City of Norwich School. The family lived at the school with Hubert Mayo's parents. 3 1909 Margery Alison Mayo, Eileen's sister, was born on the 18 February. 7 1913 Hubert Mayo was appointed Headmaster of Ossett Grammar School near Wakefield, Yorkshire; Eileen started school here in the preparatory department. Josephine Audrey Mayo, Eileen's second sister, was born on 5 July. 12 1918 Upon Hubert Mayo's appointment to the staff of Bristol Grammar School the family moved to Bristol. The headmaster J.E. Barton and his wife became close family friends. Eileen was emolled at Clifton High School. 14 1920 Hubert Mayo was appointed inaugural Headmaster of Oldershaw School in Wallasey, Cheshire; Eileen remained at Clifton High School as a boarder. Between 1 January and 10 October she kept a 'Nature Diary,' (TGA 916.43). In it she recorded observations of weather and wildlife, with illustrations of plants and animals at the bottom of most pages. This is the first documentation of her keen eye for the natural world; such recordings of her own observations of nature were to become her major resource for her art in the future. 15 1921 On 26 December Hubert Mayo died after a sudden illness aged 41.