Murals & Decorative Painting 1920-1960

This book is illustrated with a series of specially commissioned photographs that record some of the least known but most remarkable mural cycles in Great Britain. In the vast majority of cases these works have previously only been reproduced in black and white if at all. Today murals are rarely seen as the artist intended. Often they are partially obscured, especially where there has been a change of building use. Frequently works are completely covered up or painted over examples include murals by Mary Sargent Florence, Mary Adshead, Eric Ravilious, Dora Carrington, William Roberts and Gilbert Spencer. Where murals survive they are more often than not displaced works. Historic photographs showing John Piperís The Englishmanís Home at The Festival of Britain, in situ on the river side of the Homes and Gardens Pavilion on Belvedere Road, come as a revelation; a digital reconstruction of Frank Brangwynís Empire panels for The House of Lords, seen in situ as they were originally intended, gives a dramatically more favourable impression than their final installation in The Brangwyn Hall, Swansea.

Works Featured in this catalogue

Charles Mahoney (1903 - 1968)
Compositional study for The pleasures of Life at Morley College, 1928-30
£3,960
Sold
Mary Adshead (1904 - 1995)
Nursery Designs
Sold
Sir Thomas Monnington (1902 - 1976)
Design for Students Union, University of London, circa 1969
Sold
Charles Mahoney (1903 - 1968)
The original full size cartoon for The Garden, 1950
Charles Mahoney (1903 - 1968)
Study for The Four Winds of Hilly Fields, ceiling design for Brockley County School, c. 1932-36
£1,650
Forthcoming
Alan Sorrell (1904 - 1974)
Mural IV for the canteen of John D. Francis Ltd, Fazakerley, Liverpool, 1947
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 III for the canteen of John D. Francis Ltd, Fazakerley, Liverpool, 1947
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
Private
Doris Zinkeisen (1898 - 1991)
Work Artists record of mural designed for the Arts and Crafts exhibition, Royal Academy, 1916
Sold
Charles Mahoney (1903 - 1968)
The Birthday Party, circa 1957
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
Barbara Jones (1912 - 1978)
Study for Man and his Senses, c. 1966-71
Charles Mahoney (1903 - 1968)
Design for the wall above the altar at Campion Hall, Two Angels Overlooking a Garden
£9,500
Frank Brangwyn (1867 - 1956)
Study for Mans Ultimate Destiny, c. 1932
£25,000
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
Charles Mahoney (1903 - 1968)
Design for the altar wall, Annunciation in an allotment, circa 1942
£7,750
Sold
Anne Newland (1913 - 1997)
The Legend of Ceres, c. 1938-39
Sold
Gilbert Spencer (1892 - 1979)
Hebridean Memory, 1951
Frank Brangwyn (1867 - 1956)
Parrot – Original Study for the Great Empire Panels
£975
Charles Mahoney (1903 - 1968)
Study of a grumpy cherub, for Campion Hall, early 1940’s
£1,250
Victor Reinganum (1907 - 1995)
Three Muses, 1968
£6,500
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
Forthcoming
Charles Mahoney (1903 - 1968)
Study for Fortune & the Boy at the Well, mural at Brockley County School, 1933
Mary Adshead (1904 - 1995)
Scenes from the Life of Christ: Preaching the Gospel, mid-1920s
£8,750
Sold
Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Autumn and the Poet, 1948-1960
Forthcoming
Charles Mahoney (1903 - 1968)
Study for The Birth of the Virgin, c. 1942
Mary Adshead (1904 - 1995)
Farmers ploughing, Study for The World’s Food mural, c. 1942
£1,100
Private
Peter Lanyon (1918 - 1964)
Porthmeor Mural, 1962
Sold
Sir Thomas Monnington (1902 - 1976)
Study for The Fifth Station, The Cross is laid upon Simon of Cyrene, circa 1960
Sold
John Armstrong (1893 - 1973)
Studies for Royal Marsden Hospital in Sutton, Surrey, 1961
Sold
Alan Sorrell (1904 - 1974)
Study for The Nelson Bar, HMS Campania, 1951
Private
Claude Francis Barry (1883 - 1970)
The Heart of the Empire: Our Finest Hour, 1940
John Armstrong (1893 - 1973)
Suggested Decoration for The Pleasures of Living mural, Shell Centre, circa 1961
£2,510
Alan Sorrell (1904 - 1974)
Mural I for the canteen of John D. Francis Ltd, Fazakerley, Liverpool, 1947
Sold
Dean Cornwell (1892 - 1960)
Functions of Combat; Service of Supply, circa 1945
Sold
John Armstrong (1893 - 1973)
Design for The Pleasure of Living Mural at Shell Centre, c.1961
Mary Adshead (1904 - 1995)
Lunette design for a school mural, 1930’s
£2,300
Sir Thomas Monnington (1902 - 1976)
Design for the ceiling of the Mary Harris Memorial Chapel, (pale ground) University of Exeter, 1956
£11,000
Barbara Jones (1912 - 1978)
Out in the Hall, 1960
Barbara Jones (1912 - 1978)
Study for Man at Work – a century of technical and social progress, 1961
£2,800
Stanley Lewis (1905 - 2009)
Study for the Central Group of Allegory, c. 1929
Edward Bawden (1903 - 1989)
The English Pub, 1949 -1951
Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
Colour study for sub-gallery spandrels at Brockley County School for Boys [HMO 551]
£2,350
Forthcoming
Jean Clark (1902 - 1999)
Study for the Committee Room of the London Bankers Clearing House, 1958
Frank Brangwyn (1867 - 1956)
The Printed Word Makes the People of the World One
Sold
Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)
The Woodcutter and the Bees, spring 1933 [HMO 309]