George Hooper was a British artist who worked in a unique style informed by

Fauvism Fauvism /ˈfoʊvɪzm̩/ is the style of ''les Fauves'' (French language, French for "the wild beasts"), a group of early 20th-century modern artists whose works emphasized painterly qualities and strong colour over the Representation (arts), repr ...

and the

Bloomsbury Group The Bloomsbury Group—or Bloomsbury Set—was a group of associated English writers, intellectuals, philosophers and artists in the first half of the 20th century, including Virginia Woolf, John Maynard Keynes, E. M. Forster and Lytton Strac ...

although his style varied greatly throughout his long career. Hooper was born on 10 September 1910 in Gorakphur, India and died on 18 July 1994 in

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, England. 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 ...

He was invited to join

Kenneth Clark Kenneth Mackenzie Clark, Baron Clark (13 July 1903 – 21 May 1983) was a British art historian, museum director, and broadcaster. After running two important art galleries in the 1930s and 1940s, he came to wider public notice on television ...

’s

Recording Britain The Pilgrim Trust is a national grant-making trust in the United Kingdom. It is based in London and is a registered charity under English law. It was founded in 1930 with a two million pound grant by Edward Harkness, an American philanthropist. T ...

scheme as one of a small group of artists commissioned to create works that would, “...boost morale by celebrating the country’s natural beauty and architectural heritage”. He taught at Brighton College of Art and works of his are in the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

The British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It documen ...

and a number of smaller galleries in Sussex. He spent most of his later life in Redhill in

painting largely independently of any school or group of artists. He married Joyce Katherine Hooper

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

(who later founded

Surrey Opera Surrey Opera is a semi-professional English opera company based in Croydon, providing opera in Surrey, Sussex and Kent. The company offers opportunity to emerging professional opera singers, providing the opportunity to work with professional dire ...

) in 1941.

Exhibitions

Hooper exhibited throughout his life and posthumously and was included in the following significant exhibitions: *1945-7........Exhibited at

Leicester Galleries Leicester Galleries was an art gallery located in London from 1902 to 1977 that held exhibitions of modern British, French and international artists' works. Its name was acquired in 1984 by Peter Nahum, who operates "Peter Nahum at the Leiceste ...

, Leicester Square alongside

Walter Sickert Walter Richard Sickert (31 May 1860 – 22 January 1942) was a German-born British painter and printmaker who was a member of the Camden Town Group of Post-Impressionist artists in early 20th-century London. He was an important influence on d ...

Duncan Grant Duncan James Corrowr Grant (21 January 1885 – 8 May 1978) was a British painter and designer of textiles, pottery, theatre sets and costumes. He was a member of the Bloomsbury Group. His father was Bartle Grant, a "poverty-stricken" major ...

and

Ivon Hitchens Ivon Hitchens (born London, 3 March 1893 – 29 August 1979) was an English painter who started exhibiting during the 1920s. He became part of the 'London Group' of artists and exhibited with them during the 1930s. His house was bombed in 1940 du ...

. *1953-64......Works included in seven exhibitions at Wildenstein’s, Bond Street. Also Mall Galleries and British Museum. *1984 & 86...Solo shows at Odette Gilbert Gallery, Cork Street. *1988...........Solo show for Sally Hunter,

Motcomb Street Motcomb Street is a street in the City of Westminster's Belgravia district in London. It is known for its luxury fashion shops, such as Christian Louboutin shoes, Stewart Parvin gowns, and the jeweller Carolina Bucci, and was the location of the ...

. *1990...........Solo show, Hooper Gallery, St John’s Wood. *1993...........Retrospective, Charleston. *2003...........Solo show, Collyer Bristow.

Bibliography

* George Hooper by James Beechey, The Hooper Gallery, (May 1995)

References

External links

George Hooper's Biography on the Brighton university Website

George Hooper on Art UK's Your Painting Website

George Hooper's Recording Britain works in the Victoria and Albert Museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hooper, George 1910 births 1994 deaths British artists British people in colonial India