Private
Doris Zinkeisen
(1898 - 1991)
Work Artists record of mural designed for the Arts and Crafts exhibition, Royal Academy, 1916
Private Collection
Doris Zinkeisen (1898 - 1991)
Size:
Height – 76.3cm
Width – 63.5cm
Wool had many wartime uses,mainly for uniforms and especially the heavy winter greatcoat, but was also used in the packing around the cordite charges for the heavy 12-, 14- and 16-inch naval guns and large-calibre military guns. The fulling process involved boiling the wool,making it solid and compact.
During the SecondWorldWar , Zinkeisen was active as aVAD nurse, assisting wartime Blitz casualties at St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington. She was appointed War Artist for the NorthWest Europe Commission of the British Red Cross Society and was the first artist to enter Belsen Concentration Camp at the end of the war . Zinkeisen received a number of commissions to record achievements and developments in industry, such as those undertaken for ICI.
Doris Zinkeisen won a scholarship to the Royal Academy Schools in 1917, where she quickly earned critical acclaim. Shrugging off the outcry surrounding the inclusion of women students in the 1921 RA Summer Exhibition, she embarked on a prestigious career and received many notable commissions, such as stage design work for Charles B. Cochran in the 1930s and murals for the RMS Queen Mary. She also exhibited in the US, Paris and London, including at the ROI ‘ to which she was elected in 1928. In 1938, she published Designing for the Stage.
During WWII, Zinkeisen was employed by the British Red Cross to record their activities in Europe. Her harrowing painting Human Laundry, Belsen: April 1945 ‘ a lasting testament to the horrors of WW2 ‘ stands in stark contrast to the vibrant compositions she produced both before and after the war.
