Mary Adshead facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Mary Adshead
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Self-portrait (1931)
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| Born | 15 February 1904 Bloomsbury, London, England
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| Died | 3 September 1995 (aged 91) London, England
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| Education | Slade School of Art |
| Known for | Painting, murals |
| Spouse(s) | Stephen Bone |
Mary Adshead (born February 15, 1904 – died September 3, 1995) was a talented English artist. She was known for her paintings, especially large wall paintings called murals. Mary also worked as an illustrator and designer.
Contents
Mary Adshead's Life and Art
Early Life and Training
Mary Adshead was born in Bloomsbury, London, England. Her father, Stanley Davenport Adshead, was a well-known architect and artist. He also taught at London University.
Mary went to Putney High School and later studied in Paris. At just 16, she started studying art at the Slade School of Art in 1921. Her teacher, Henry Tonks, quickly saw her talent.
First Murals and Big Projects
Henry Tonks helped Mary get her first big job. She painted a mural for a boys' club in Wapping with another artist, Rex Whistler. This success led to more mural work.
In 1924, she painted A Tropical Fantasy. This mural showed a desert island theme. It was for a professor at Liverpool University. You can still see this mural at the Liverpool University Art Gallery today.
Mary also created a large mural called The Housing of the People. This was for the 1924 British Empire Exhibition in Wembley, London.
Famous Commissions and Challenges
Mary Adshead was asked to paint murals for Lord Beaverbrook's house. He wanted scenes of horse racing at Newmarket Racecourse. He also wanted portraits of his friends, like Winston Churchill.
These eleven paintings were called An English Holiday. However, Lord Beaverbrook worried about seeing his friends' faces every day. He paid Mary for her work but returned the paintings. They were shown in a London store in 1930. Sadly, most of them were later destroyed in a fire.
In 1934, Mary painted murals for the auditorium of Victoria Pier in Colwyn Bay. These murals were thought to be lost when the pier partly collapsed. But in 2018, parts of them were found!
She also painted a mural for the British section at the Paris International Exhibition of 1937.
Exhibitions and Illustrations
Mary Adshead had her first solo art show in 1930. It was at the Goupil Gallery. Her painting The Morning after the Flood is now part of the Tate art collection.
She also worked with her husband to illustrate two children's books. In 1930, she became a member of the New English Art Club.
Wartime Work and Designs
During World War II, Mary Adshead created murals for public places. She painted for a canteen in Birmingham and a club for service members.
After the war, she designed stamps for the GPO in 1949. She also designed stamps for the 1951 Festival of Britain. Mary even designed the frame around the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II on some stamps.
In 1950, she decorated a restaurant in Selfridge's department store with jungle scenes. She also designed posters for London Transport. Some of her murals for Bank Underground Station are now lost. She even painted sets for the film Cleopatra.
Mary was very busy, but she still found time to help start the Society of Mural Painters.
Later Life and Travels
In 1929, Mary Adshead married Stephen Bone, who was also an artist. They had two sons and a daughter.
After her husband passed away in 1958, Mary traveled a lot. She visited many places in Europe and the United States. In 1966, she wrote a book called Travelling with a Sketchbook.
She learned about mosaic art in Italy and Sicily. She had many art shows, sometimes alone and sometimes with her late husband's works. In 1982, she finished a mosaic mural for an underpass in Rotherhithe. It showed the famous painting The Fighting Temeraire. This project took many hours of work in a cold tunnel during winter.
Mary Adshead continued to be an active artist until she passed away. She died on September 3, 1995, at the age of 91.
Where to See Mary Adshead's Art
Mary Adshead's paintings are in many public art collections. These include The Tate, the Graves Art Gallery in Sheffield, and the Imperial War Museum. You can also find her work at the Manchester City Art Gallery and the London Transport Museum. The University Art Gallery Liverpool also has her art.
Some of her murals still exist today. She created murals with Stephen Bone for the liner RMS Queen Mary in 1935-36, though these were not installed. Other notable works include a triptych for St Mary and All Saints Church in Plymstock (1957). She also made a decorative pool in Guernsey (1966) and a mural for a pedestrian subway in Rotherhithe (1983).
Her work has been shown in special exhibitions. These include shows at The University of Liverpool Art Gallery (2005) and the Graves Art Gallery Sheffield (2005).
Images for kids
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Self-portrait (1931)
See also
In Spanish: Mary Adshead para niños
