Barbara Fanny Crocker, later Barbara Crocker Whelpton, (1910–1995) was a British author and artist known for her paintings and murals.

Biography

Crocker was born in London, one of the five children born to George Ashcombe Crocker, a dealer, and his wife Rosa Anna Francis. She attended Putney High School before studying at the

Slade School of Fine Art The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...

in London from 1927 to 1930 after which she continued her training in Paris and Italy. As well as painting, Crocker lectured on art, including to troops during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and, later, travelled extensively in Europe, Russia and the Middle East which resulted her writing several travel books. She painted landscapes in both oils and watercolours and produced prints and lithographs. She completed a number of murals for offices and restaurants in London and also for the Natural History Museum. Crocker illustrated a number of books including at least two for works by

Eric Whelpton Eric George Whelpton (21 March 1894 – 13 February 1981) was a British writer, teacher and traveller. Early life and education Whelpton was born on 21 March 1894 in Le Havre, France, the son of the Revd George Whelpton, minister of Trinity Metho ...

, who she had married in 1943 and together they wrote a number of books on art and travel. Crocker also translated a number of works by other authors. From 1960 Crocker held annual studio shows of her work and also exhibited with the London Group, the Women's International Art Club, the Royal Watercolour Society and with the

Royal Society of British Artists The Royal Society of British Artists (RBA) is a British art body established in 1823 as the Society of British Artists, as an alternative to the Royal Academy. History The RBA commenced with twenty-seven members, and took until 1876 to reach fif ...

and the Society of Women Artists. For the later part of her life she lived in Sussex and died at

Rye Rye (''Secale cereale'') is a grass grown extensively as a grain, a cover crop and a forage crop. It is a member of the wheat tribe (Triticeae) and is closely related to both wheat (''Triticum'') and barley (genus ''Hordeum''). Rye grain is u ...

in 1995, aged 85.

Canada House Canada House (french: Maison du Canada) is a Greek Revival building on Trafalgar Square in London. It has been a Grade II* Listed Building since 1970. It has served as the offices of the High Commission of Canada in the United Kingdom since 192 ...

in London, the New York Museum and

Rye Art Gallery is a small town and civil parish in the Rother district of East Sussex, England, two miles from the sea at the confluence of three rivers: the Rother, the Tillingham and the Brede. An important member of the mediaeval Cinque Ports confederat ...

all hold examples of her paintings.

Books illustrated

* ''L'Air de Londres'' by

Jean Queval Jean Queval (1913–1990) was a French translator, writer, journalist, film critic and founding member of Oulipo Oulipo (, short for french: Ouvroir de littérature potentielle; roughly translated: ''"workshop of potential literature"'', styliz ...

* ''The Book of Dublin'' by

* ''The Intimate Charm of Kensington'' by Eric Whelpton.

Books written

* ''Springtime at St. Hilaire'', 1953, with Eric Whelpton * ''A Window on Greece'', 1954 * ''Grand tour of Italy'', 1956, with Eric Whelpton * ''Calabria and the Aeolian Islands'', 1957, with Eric Whelpton * ''Greece and the Islands'', 1962, with Eric Whelpton * ''Paris Triumphant'', 1962 * ''Unknown Ireland: A Motoring Itinerary of Lesser-known General and Archaeological Features'', 1964 * ''Unknown Austria Volume 1'' and ''Volume 2'', 1966 * ''Unknown Austria: Styria, Burgenland and Carinthia'', 1969 * ''Art Appreciation Made Simple'', 1970 * ''Painters' Florence'', 1971 * ''Unknown Scily; archaeological itineraries with 16 photos'', 1972, with Georges Pillement * ''Talking about Pictures: French'', 1986, with Edward S Jenkins * ''Picture Composition: French'', 1986, with Edward S Jenkins.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crocker, Barbara 1910 births 1995 deaths 20th-century English painters 20th-century English women artists Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art Artists from London English illustrators British women illustrators English muralists English women non-fiction writers English women painters English travel writers British women travel writers People educated at Putney High School British women muralists