Sold
Charles Cundall
(1890 - 1971)
Falmouth Harbour from the Town Quay, 1940
Sold
Charles Cundall (1890 - 1971)
Thinned oil on paper
13 3/8 x 19 5/8 in. (34 x 50 cm)
Size:
Height – 34cm
Width – 50cm
Exhibited: – A Working Method,Young Gallery Salisbury, March- April 2016, Sotheran’s, April-May 2016; ‘Terrain & Conflict: Repercussions’, Young Gallery, Salisbury, November 10, 2018 – December 29, 2018
Literature: Charles Cundall – A Working Method, Edited by Sacha Llewellyn & Paul Liss, published by Liss Llewellyn Fine Art, February 2016.
This is probably a study for Prestwick Airport now in the collection of the Imperial War Museum.
This painting by Cundall has a number of curious characteristics: the aircraft appears to combine the features of a Lockheed Hudson and a Lockheed Ventura
(both of which were used by Coastal Command), whilst omitting the
glazed dorsal gun-turrets characteristic of both. The nose looks like
that of a Bristol Beaufighter, while other aspects resemble the more
obscure Reid and Sigrist Snargasher. Though Cundall sometime
approximated features, a natural consequence of sketching rapidly on
the spot, he was usually an accurate observer of aircraft and
demonstrated considerable knowledge of them. The bright yellow clothing
of the ground staff appears to be yellow oil-skins: high-visibility
clothing was not introduced until the 1970s. On the basis of the
landscape in the background, with a coal-tip pyramid and coal-pit
machinery visible, the setting appears to be the North of England.
We are grateful to Michael Barker and Andrew Cormack for assistance.
Painter, potter and stained glass artist, born in Stratford, Lancashire. After working as a designer for Pilkington’s Pottery Company under Gordon Forsyth, Cundall studied at Manchester School of Art, obtaining a scholarship to the Royal College of Art, 1912. After World War I army service he returned to the Royal College in 1918, then from 1919 to 1920 attended the Slade, and furthered his studies in Paris. Cundall traveled widely in several continents and became noted for his panoramic pictures, such as Bank Holiday Brighton, in the Tate Gallery (accession no. NO4700). He was a member of NEAC, RP, RWS and other bodies and was a prolific RA exhibitor. He had first solo show at Colnaghi 1927. He was an Official War Artist in World War II, during which time he was sent to Quebec (1944). In the same year he was elected RA. His wife was the artist Jacqueline Pietersen.
His technical facility – especially when working on large panoramic canvases – was remarkable. His pictures are rich with texture, light and movement. He was equally at ease with aerial views, landscapes, seascapes and cityscapes, and was a master of crowd scenes. His work as an Official War Artist has never received the attention it merits.
