It started with a jug...

On the pleasures of collecting the Omega Workshops

‘So the Omega Workshops closed down. The shades of the Post-Impressionists have gone to join the other shades; no trace of them is now to be seen in Fitzroy Square. The giant ladies have been dismounted from the doorway and the rooms have other occupants. But some of the things he made still remain – a painted table; a witty chair; a dinner service; a bowl or two of that turquoise blue that the man from the British Museum so much admired. And if by chance one of those broad deep plates is broken, or an accident befalls a blue dish, all the shops in London may be searched in vain for its fellow.’ Thus Virginia Woolf described the demise of the Omega Workshops in her 1940 biography of Roger Fry.

Aug

Little known artists... Dolores Courtney

Information on Dolores Courtney is a little ‘thin on the ground’. In fact there are only four known extant paintings by her. The two oils in my collection came from Roger Fry’s estate. She worked alongside Nina Hamnett at the Omega Workshops between 1915-1917 and there is a remarkable portrait of Dolores (titled The Student), painted by Nina in 1917 that is held in the Ferens Art Gallery (Kingston upon Hull).

Mar

little known artists... Peggy Angus

Peggy Angus's belief that art could be found in everyday items pervaded her life and work. Floor tiles, wallpaper, party invitations, scary masks, mosaic stepping stones, children's toys, a birthday cake or a political cartoon, all were enhanced by her love of colour, design and craft. Peggy's art enriches the lives of those who live with it, but perhaps her greatest legacy is the number of artists and craft workers who came to their art through her inspiration.

Mar

Omega Workshops fan

Even though the best known products of the Omega Workshops are its furniture, textiles and pottery (see previous posts), it sold a remarkable range of objects from its premises at 33 Fitzroy Square. Beads, artificial flowers, candlesticks, lamps, painted trays, bags, hats and fans were popular items.

Feb

little known painters... Doris Hatt

Doris Hatt

One has to be careful what one wishes for! I have a friend who also collects obscure British painters and potters and who always enquires about my latest obsession or acquisition. I am naturally secretive about such things, so when she recently made her enquires I told her that ‘lesbian, abstract painters who worked between the wars’ was the direction I was taking.

Dec

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas and a very happy new year to all my readers, friends and contacts

Nov

life, one pot at a time... Susie Cooper 1933

Today I found this stunning Susie Cooper studio ware vase at a local market and had to have it....

Oct

life, one pot at a time... 1934 Art in Industry exhibition

In 1934 Harrods store in London held a selling exhibition entitled 'Modern Art for the Table'. It was part of a Government campaign of the early 1930s to encourage leading artists to produce designs for industry, with the hope of improving ceramic and glass design. It was a ground breaking collaboration between the artistic community and the decorative arts industry.

Clarice Cliff was appointed the Art Director and twenty-eight artists and designers were invited to submit their designs.

Jun

a little more.... Dorothy Wellesley's dining room

My original post about the dining room designed by Duncan Grant and Vanessa Bell for Dorothy Wellesley in 1930 appeared in an earlier blog post (April 2011 - link below).

http://itstartedwithajug.blogspot.com/2011/04/dorothy-wellesleys-dining-room-1930.html

I bought the chairs that were originally in the scheme a couple of years ago and have been searching for information and further images (up to that point I had only seen the two that originally appeared in Studio Magazine in 1930).

Apr

Little known painters....Cissie Kean

Born in London in 1871 to a wealthy family of German coffee merchants, Cissie Kean - one of six children - was certainly not destined to become a painter. Although her interest in painting was established at an early age, her family did not however think that a career as a painter would be compatible with her social background.

After being crippled as a young adult in circumstances that have never become quite clear, the strong willed Cissie decided to dedicate her life to painting.