Murals & Decorative Painting 1910-1970

The murals that were produced in this country in the twentieth century remain as one of the great inventive achievements in modern British art. Highly original in their approach to design, balancing varying degrees of modernity or tradition, they demonstrate the creative drive of their makers and contain singular expressions of the aesthetic, personal and social concerns that typify the ages from which they come. Some are celebrations of simple human pleasures, perhaps to decorate a refreshment room, an ocean liner or a dining room. Others are intended to be the highest expressions of their art, ambitious allegorical or decorative compositions that like the frescoes of the Renaissance would speak through the ages to later generations. The individuals and committees who commissioned them similarly believed they would both represent the best that Britain had to offer and mark the high accomplishment of contemporary society, elevating the public and private spaces they occupied and inspiring moral purpose.

Works Featured in this catalogue

Charles Mahoney (1903 - 1968)
Design for the altar wall, Annunciation in an allotment, circa 1942
£7,750
Sold
Frank Brangwyn (1867 - 1956)
Study for Mans Ultimate Destiny, c. 1932
Sold
Frank Brangwyn (1867 - 1956)
Working Photomontage for Man’s Ultimate Destiny, Rockefeller Center, 1933
Private
Barbara Jones (1912 - 1978)
Study for Man and his Senses, c. 1966-71
Charles Mahoney (1903 - 1968)
Study of a grumpy cherub, for Campion Hall, early 1940’s
£1,250
Sold
Anne Newland (1913 - 1997)
The Legend of Ceres, c. 1938-39
Kenneth Rowntree (1915 - 1997)
The British Restaurant at Acton, Middlesex, 1942
£7,850
Francis Plummer (1930 - 2019)
Allegory with female nudes, circa 1953
£9,500
Forthcoming
Charles Mahoney (1903 - 1968)
Study for Fortune and the Boy at the Well, mural at Brockley County School, 1933
Victor Reinganum (1907 - 1995)
Three Muses, 1968
£3,000
Sold
Gilbert Spencer (1892 - 1979)
Hebridean Memory, 1951
Sold
Frank Brangwyn (1867 - 1956)
Parrot – Original Study for the Great Empire Panels
Forthcoming
Charles Mahoney (1903 - 1968)
Study for The Birth of the Virgin, c. 1942
Mary Adshead (1904 - 1995)
Scenes from the Life of Christ: Preaching the Gospel, mid-1920s
£6,750
Willi Soukop (1907 - 1995)
Physical Education, Reading & Discussion and Woodwork & Metalwork, early 1950s
£9,500
Sold
Frank Brangwyn (1867 - 1956)
The Last Supper, St Joseph’s, Stokesley, 1946
Sold
Sir Thomas Monnington (1902 - 1976)
Study for The Fifth Station, The Cross is laid upon Simon of Cyrene, circa 1960
Mary Adshead (1904 - 1995)
Farmers ploughing, Study for The World’s Food mural, c. 1942
£1,100
Sold
Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Autumn and the Poet, 1948-1960
Private
Claude Francis Barry (1883 - 1970)
The Heart of the Empire: Our Finest Hour, 1940
Sold
John Armstrong (1893 - 1973)
Studies for Royal Marsden Hospital in Sutton, Surrey, 1961
Private
Peter Lanyon (1918 - 1964)
Porthmeor Mural, 1962
Sold
Dean Cornwell (1892 - 1960)
Functions of Combat; Service of Supply, circa 1945
John Armstrong (1893 - 1973)
Suggested Decoration for The Pleasures of Living mural, Shell Centre, circa 1961
£2,510
Sold
Alan Sorrell (1904 - 1974)
Study for The Nelson Bar, HMS Campania, 1951
Sir Thomas Monnington (1902 - 1976)
Design for the ceiling of the Mary Harris Memorial Chapel, (pale ground) University of Exeter, 1956
£9,500
Sold
John Armstrong (1893 - 1973)
Design for The Pleasure of Living Mural at Shell Centre, c.1961
Alan Sorrell (1904 - 1974)
Mural I for the canteen of John D. Francis Ltd, Fazakerley, Liverpool, 1947
Stanley Lewis (1905 - 2009)
Study for the Central Group of Allegory, c. 1929
Barbara Jones (1912 - 1978)
Out in the Hall, 1960
£44,000
Mary Adshead (1904 - 1995)
Lunette design for a school mural, 1930’s
£2,300
Jean Clark (1902 - 1999)
Study for the Committee Room of the London Bankers Clearing House, 1958
£19,500
Edward Bawden (1903 - 1989)
The English Pub, 1949 -1951
Barbara Jones (1912 - 1978)
Study for Man at Work – a century of technical and social progress, 1961
£2,800
Charles Mahoney (1903 - 1968)
Compositional study for The pleasures of Life at Morley College, 1928-30
£3,960
Frank Brangwyn (1867 - 1956)
The Printed Word Makes the People of the World One
Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Colour study for sub-gallery spandrels at Brockley County School for Boys [HMO 551]
£2,350
Sold
Charles Mahoney (1903 - 1968)
The original full size cartoon for The Garden, 1950
Sold
Mary Adshead (1904 - 1995)
Nursery Designs
Sold
Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
The Woodcutter and the Bees, spring 1933 [HMO 309]
Frank Brangwyn (1867 - 1956)
Study for Man the Master 1930-1934
Charles Mahoney (1903 - 1968)
Study for The Four Winds of Hilly Fields, ceiling design for Brockley County School, c. 1932-36
£1,650
Sold
Sir Thomas Monnington (1902 - 1976)
Design for Students Union, University of London, circa 1969
Private
Edward Halliday (1902 - 1984)
Hypnos, 1928
Mary Adshead (1904 - 1995)
Garison Lane Nursery Training School, circa 1930
£1,400
Forthcoming
Alan Sorrell (1904 - 1974)
Mural IV for the canteen of John D. Francis Ltd, Fazakerley, Liverpool, 1947
Sold
Charles Mahoney (1903 - 1968)
The Birthday Party, circa 1957
Sold
John Cecil Stephenson (1889 - 1965)
Study for Fugue, 1953
Charles Mahoney (1903 - 1968)
First design for the Thomas More Altar, Cheyne Row, London, mid 1930s
£2,950
Forthcoming
Alan Sorrell (1904 - 1974)
Mural III for the canteen of John D. Francis Ltd, Fazakerley, Liverpool, 1947
Charles Mahoney (1903 - 1968)
Design for the wall above the altar at Campion Hall, Two Angels Overlooking a Garden
£9,500
Forthcoming
John Piper (1903 - 1992)
The Englishman’s Home, 1951
John Armstrong (1893 - 1973)
Suggested Design for The Pleasure of Living, Shell Centre London Circa 1961
£2,150
Private
Doris Zinkeisen (1898 - 1991)
Work Artists record of mural designed for the Arts and Crafts exhibition, Royal Academy, 1916