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Charles Cundall
(1890 - 1971)
Pont Neuf, Dusk, Paris
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Charles Cundall (1890 - 1971)
Size:
Height – 50cm
Width – 75cm
Charles Cundall made many painting trips to Italy over the years. He painted in Florence (its justly celebrated Ponte Vecchio and San Frediano), the port of Genoa, an early morning view in Venice, the basilica of San Marco and the Rio San Trovaco ‚Äì a back-streets canal, Verona, Lake Garda, the island of Monte Isola, several of Perugia (including this work), much sketching in Umbria, San Gimignano (with cattle in the foreground), Siena, Rome (including the Piazza del Populo, the Spanish Steps and Keats House and weddings in Michelangelo’s Campidoglio), Assisi (its beautiful Piazza del Comune), Lucca (the church of San Frediano and nearby Massa Macinaia) and Amalfi ‚Äì with a view of High Mass on Palm Sunday in its baroque cathedral and the Easter procession departing on the cathedral steps.
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.
