University of Plymouth PEARL https://pearl.plymouth.ac.uk 04 University of Plymouth Research Theses 01 Research Theses Main Collection 2006 Three officially commissioned women war artists of the Second World War : Ethel Gabain, Evelyn Gibbs and Evelyn Dunbar Strickland , Alice Marina http://hdl.handle.net/10026.1/599 University of Plymouth All content in PEARL is protected by copyright law. Author manuscripts are made available in accordance with publisher policies. Please cite only the published version using the details provided on the item record or document. In the absence of an open licence (e.g. Creative Commons), permissions for further reuse of content should be sought from the publisher or author. THREE OFFICIALLY COMMISSIONED WOMEN WAR ARTISTS OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR: ETHEL GABAIN, EVEL YN GffiBS AND EVELYN DUNBAR Volume I by ALICE MARINA STRICKLAND A thesis submitted to the University ofPiymouth in partial fulfi lment for the degree of DOCTOR OF PIDLOSOPHY School of Art and Performance Faculty of Arts JULY 2006 \ . ' ';.· ; 1 L)niversit)''ofPiymouth · ! • LibrarY ' litem No _ i · Cjoo~i'i9'Lq 7-Lf · c· , . · · - · : . _..,;; ll.' She!fril~rk 0 0 1 ~~E.IS. JJit t1C\ 4:0S")i! st F ~~~~~- \,-._~,~ ~~ ~,., ~ J<- ?--~TOO~ 5 .. ~ . Abstract Alice Marina Strickland Three Officially Commissioned Women War Artists of the Second World War: Ethel Gabain, Evelyn Gibbs and Evelyn Dunbar. This thesis has been written with the intention of providing an account of the work of Ethel Gabain (1883-1950), Evelyn Gibbs (1905-1991) and Evelyn Dunbar (1906-1960). All three were commissioned as war artists during the Second World War by the War Artists Advisory Committee and are probably best known today for the work they performed as war artists, indeed, the major repository for their work is the Imperial War Museum. All three were selected on the strength of their work prior to the war and all produced work during their commissions that received critical recognition in the press. Yet their war work did not lead to an increased call in demand for their work by galleries and collectors, and their commissions did not act as catalysts in a change of style. Their work was raised on a platform that offered the chance to gamer critical significance, yet only Dunbar's war work has received the attention it deserves, and this admiration for her war work has only grown over time. Arguably their role in World War Two, as part of the war effort, gave them the first opportunity to participate in the same broad arena as their better known contemporaries. When these three became war artists in a sense they joined the populist mainstream that embraced a whole spectrum of avant-garde and conservative artists. This moment (for that's what it was) doesn't sustain them after the war, so the question must be raised as to the relationship between artistic ability, professional success and critical significance. My research seeks to appraise these artists' achievements and give them a place within the art world of the first half of the twentieth century, alongside their more critically acclaimed contemporaries. As art historians we need to look at all the components in a much larger picture of twentieth century art than that which has been widely disseminated within art historical practice. 3 List of Contents for Volume I Page Copyright Statement 2 Title Page 3 Abstract 4-5 List of Contents 6-13 List of Illustrations 14 List of Appendices 15 Acknowledgements 16 Author's Declaration 17-24 Introduction 25-35 Chapter One: Making Women Artists Visible 36-66 Chapter Two: Education and Exhibiting 67-91 Chapter Three: Ethel Gabain and the artistic revival ofLithography 92-114 Chapter Four: Evelyn Dunbar and the Brockley School and Bletchley Park Training College Murals 115-141 Chapter Five: The illustration work ofEvelyn Dunbar, Ethe/ Gabain and Evelyn Gibbs and an appreciation ofGibbs 'prints 1927-1936 142-167 Chapter Six: Evelyn Gibbs and the Teaching ofArt in Schools 4 168~198 Chapter Seyen: The: War Ar:i of the Second, World Wm: and thewoman:war!m:tist Chapter Eight: ]:he: War /lrt o/Eve{yn:iJzlflbar, Et he/ Qqhain .and 1Eve/yn Gibb:s 244~248 Conclusion 249-'257 Appendices 258"276, BibliographY' 5 List of Illustrations Fig. 2.1 Ethel Gabain, c. 1910, photograph. 2.2 Evelyn Gibbs, c.l949, photograph. 2.3 Evelyn Dun bar, c.l933-1936, photograph. 3 .I Ethel Gabain, 'The Muff, 1906, lithograph, 16'/.o x 12'/. in, private collection. 3.2 Ethel Gabain, 'The Striped Petticoat', 1911, lithograph, 9'!. x 11 in, Fine Art Society. 3.3 Ethel Gabain, 'The White Door', 1912, lithograph, 8'!. x 5% in, Fine Art Society. 3.4 Ethel Gabain, 'The Mirror', 1914, lithograph, 14'!. x 11 Yz in, Fine Art Society 3.5 Ethel Gabain, 'The Striped Chair', 1914, lithograph, 12Yz x I0'/.o in, Fine Art Society. 3.6 Ethel Gabain, 'The Wedding Mom', 1914, lithograph, 13'/s x 10'/. in, Fine Art Society. 3.7 Ethel Gabain, 'Stripes and Black·, 1914, lithograph, 14 x 9'!. in, Fine Art Society. 3.8 Ethel Gabain, 'Prolil Fin', 1914, lithograph, ISY, x 8'l's in, Fine Art Society. 3.9 EtheiGabain, 'ALadyandherKnitting', 1915,1ithograph,l7Yzx 11 in,FineArtSociety. 3.10 Ethel Gabain, 'Pierrot', 1916, lithograph, 14 x 8'/. in, Fine Art Society. 3.11 Ethel Gabain, 'La Repasseuse', 1914, lithograph, I I x 13'l's in, Fine Art Society. 3.12 Ethel Gabain, 'The Silken Wrap', 1916, lithograph, 13 x 10 in, Fine Art Society. 3.13 Ethel Gabain, 'Madame Figaro', 1917, lithograph, 13% x I oy, in, Fine Art Society. 3.14 Ethel Gabain, 'La Belle Etoile', 1918, lithograph, 13Yz x 9'1, in, Fine Art Society. 3.15 Ethcl Gabain, 'Madame X', 1918, lithograph, 12 x 6Yz in, Fine Art Society. 3.16 Ethel Gabain, 'The Chequered Scarf (Portrait of Jolm Coplcy)', 1918, lithograph, 13Vs x 8Yz in, Fine ,\rt Society 3.17 Ethel Gabain, 'The Draught Players', 1923, lithograph, 7 x 10'/. in, Fine Art Society. 3.18 Ethel Gabai.J1, 'A Mw1ition Worker', 1917, lithograph, 9 x 4 in, private collection. 3.19 Ethel Gabain, 'Le Lorgnon', 1919, lithograph, 12'/. x 6'!. in, Fine Art Society. 6 3.20 Ethel Gabain, 'The Rattle', 1920, lithograph, I OYs x 13 in, Fine Art Society. 3.21 Ethel Gabain, 'Christopher Asleep', 1923, lithograph, 2'!. x 3'!. in, Fine Art Society. 3.22 Ethel Gabain, 'The Art of Travel', 1920, lithograph, 26 x 20 in, Transport Museum, London. 3.23 Ethel Gabain, 'L'Aube', 1921, lithograph, 13 x 9 in, Fine Art Society. 3.24 Ethel Gabain, 'Choix de Bottes', 1923, lithograph, 13'!. x 10 in, Fine Art Society. 3.25 Ethel Gabain, 'Reverie Venitienne', 1931, lithograph, 13 x 9 in, Fine Art Society. 3.26 Ethel Gabain, 'Two Black Bows', 1932, lithograph, 11 x 8'!. in, Fine Art Society. 3.27 Ethel Gabain, 'Sunburnt Nymph', 1935-38, oil on canvas, 20 x 13 in, private collection. 3.28 Ethel Gabain, 'Dame Peggy Ashcroft as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet', oil on canvas, 27 x 20 in Royal Shakespeare Company. 4. I Stanley Spencer, 'Map Reading and Making Beds', 1932, oil on plaster part of mural scheme for Sandham Memorial Chapel, Burghclere. 4.2 Charles Mahoney, 'Pleasures of Life in Work and Play (Scenes of London Life)', 1928, oil on plaster, Morley College. 4.3 Charles Mahoney, 'Fortune and the Boy', 1936, oil on plaster, mural panel, 8ft x 5ft, Brockley School, Kent. 4.4 Evelyn Dunbar painting at Brockley School, Kent, c.l933-1936. 4.5 Evelyn Dunbar, 'The Country Girl and the Pail ofMilk', 1936, oil on plaster, mural panel, 8ft x 5ft, Brockley School, Kent. 4.6 Evelyn Dunbar, Spandrels under the Gallery, 1936, oil on plaster, Brockley School, Kent. 4. 7 Evelyn Dun bar, View of the School, 1936, oil on plaster, 26ft x 12ft Brockley School, Kent. 4.8 Mildred Eldridge, 1936, oil on plaster, 'Birdcatcher and the Skylark. The Traveller and the River. The Farmer and the Cranes', 8ft x 5ft, Brockley School, Kent. 7 4.9 Violet Martin, 1936, oil on plaster, 'The King and the Two Shepherds', 8ft x Sft, Brockley School Kent. 4.10 Evelyn Dunbar, 'Alpha', c.19S8-60, oil on canvas, mural panel, 40 x 26in, Bletchley Park Training College now Oxford Brookes University, Oxford. 4.11 Evelyn Dun bar, 'Omega', c. 19S8-60, oil on canvas, mural panel, 40 x 26 in, Bletchley Park Training College now Oxford Brookes University, Oxford. 4.12 Charles Mahoney, 'Autumn', oil on canvas, 36in x 24in, Paul Liss Fine Art. 4.13 Charles Mahoney, 'The Garden', oil on canvas, 36 x 24in, Paul Liss Fine Art. 4.14 Philipp Otto Runge, 'Hiisslebeck Family, ISOS-1806, 32 x 2S in, oil on canvas. 4.1S John Ward, 'Portrait ofDora Cohen', oil on canvas, 20 x 14 in, private collection. 4.16 Evelyn Dunbar, Preliminary oil sketches for the murals at Bletchley Park Training College, c.I9S8-60, 32 x !Sin, Collection of Oxford Brookes University. 4.17 Evelyn Dunbar, Preliminary oil sketches for the murals at Bletchley Park Training College, c.l958-60, 32 x !Sin, Collection of Oxford Brookes University. 5.1 Letter from Evelyn Dun bar to Charles Mahoney, September !93S, Estate of Charles Mahoney. 5.2. Evelyn Dunbar, 'Non-Human Natives', pencil, The Scot's Weekend, 3 x 2in, 1936. S.3 Evelyn Dunbar, 'Wuthering Heights', pencil, 7 x Sin, Signature 4, November 1936. S.4 Evelyn Dunbar, pencil, Gardener's Choice, 3 x 2in, 1937. S.S Evelyn Dunbar, pencil, Gardener's Choice, 3 x 2in, 1937.