Joanna Carrington (6 November 1931-13 November 2003) was a British artist.

Biography

Carrington was born at

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...

in north London into an artistic family, her father being the publisher and designer

Noel Carrington Noel Lewis Carrington (1895 – 11 April 1989) was an English book designer, editor, publisher, and the originator of Puffin Books. He was the author of books on design and on recreation and also worked for Oxford University Press and Penguin Books ...

while the artist

Dora Carrington Dora de Houghton Carrington (29 March 1893 – 11 March 1932), known generally as Carrington, was an English painter and decorative artist, remembered in part for her association with members of the Bloomsbury Group, especially the writer Lytton ...

, who she never met, was an aunt. At the start of

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 ...

, the family moved to

Lambourn Lambourn is a village and civil parish in Berkshire, England. It lies just north of the M4 Motorway between Swindon and Newbury, and borders Wiltshire to the west and Oxfordshire to the north. After Newmarket it is the largest centre of ra ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

where her father worked on a farm and Joanna Carrington developed what would become a life-long love of the countryside. Aged seventeen she studied at the summer school in east Anglia run by

Cedric Morris Sir Cedric Lockwood Morris, 9th Baronet (11 December 1889 – 8 February 1982) was a British artist, art teacher and plantsman. He was born in Swansea in South Wales, but worked mainly in East Anglia. As an artist he is best known for his portra ...

, who was greatly impressed by her talent for painting. Carrington then moved to Paris where she studied in the studio of

Fernand Léger Joseph Fernand Henri Léger (; February 4, 1881 – August 17, 1955) was a French painting, painter, sculpture, sculptor, and film director, filmmaker. In his early works he created a personal form of cubism (known as "tubism") which he gradually ...

. Returning to England, Carrington studied at the

Central School of Art and Design The Central School of Art and Design was a public school of fine and applied arts in London, England. It offered foundation and degree level courses. It was established in 1896 by the London County Council as the Central School of Arts and Cr ...

in London from 1949 to 1952, where she was taught by both

Mervyn Peake Mervyn Laurence Peake (9 July 1911 – 17 November 1968) was an English writer, artist, poet, and illustrator. He is best known for what are usually referred to as the '' Gormenghast'' books. The four works were part of what Peake conceived ...

and

Keith Vaughan John Keith Vaughan (23 August 1912 – 4 November 1977), was a British painter. Biography Born at Selsey in West Sussex, Vaughan attended Christ's Hospital school. He worked in an advertising agency until the World War II, when as an intending ...

. While at the Central, Carrington won a Queen's Scholarship and was included in a group exhibition, ''Six Young Contemporaries'' at the

Institute of Contemporary Arts The Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) is an artistic and cultural centre on The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. Located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps and Admiralty Arch, the ICA c ...

in central London during 1952. Carrington spent some time in Nigeria with her first husband, the designer Mick Pilcher, but appears to have done little, if any, painting there. When the couple split up she returned to London, took a studio in

Notting Hill Notting Hill is a district of West London, England, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Notting Hill is known for being a cosmopolitan and multicultural neighbourhood, hosting the annual Notting Hill Carnival and Portobello Road M ...

and began exhibiting again. Her first solo exhibition was at

The Establishment ''The Establishment'' is a term used to describe a dominant social group , group or elite that controls a polity or an organization. It may comprise a closed social group that selects its own members, or entrenched elite structures in specific ...

club's gallery in

Greek Street Greek Street is a street in Soho, London, leading south from Soho Square to Shaftesbury Avenue. The street is famous for its restaurants and cosmopolitan nature. History It is thought to take its name from a Greek church that was built in 1 ...

Soho Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was develop ...

during 1962. She began teaching and at various times held posts at the

Hornsey School of Art Hornsey College of Art (a.k.a. Hornsey School of Art) was a college in Crouch End in the London Borough of Haringey, England. The HCA was "an iconic British art institution, renowned for its experimental and progressive approach to art and design ...

, the

Byam Shaw School of Art The Byam Shaw School of Art, often known simply as Byam Shaw, was an independent art school in London, England, which specialised in fine art and offered foundation and degree level courses. It was founded in 1910 by John Liston Byam Shaw and ...

and at

Regent Street Polytechnic The University of Westminster is a public university, public university based in London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1838 as the Royal Polytechnic Institution, it was the first Polytechnic (United Kingdom), polytechnic to open in London. The Polyte ...

. In 1966, Carrington married the artist and film director Christopher Mason and exhibited works at the Upper Grosvenor Gallery and at Crane Arts. Carrington contributed a series of articles on painting to the women's page of

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

, which were eventually published in book form as ''Landscape Painting for Beginners'' in 1971. In 1973, after Mason made a film on the naive artist

Alfred Wallis Alfred Wallis (18 August 1855 – 29 August 1942) was a British fisherman and artist known for his port landscapes and shipping scenes painted in a naïve style. Having no artistic training, he began painting at the age of 70, using househol ...

, Carrington adopted the pseudonym Reg Pepper. As Pepper, Carrington produced paintings in a primitive style which she exhibited on several occasions at the Portal Gallery in London. Even after her identity was revealed, by the

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

in 1981, Carrington's Pepper work still continued to sell well. In 1984, as Pepper, Carrington was commissioned to illustrate a children's book which was published as ''Pepper and Jam''. From 1979 onwards, Carrington and Mason began spending more time in France and Carrington began a series of landscape paintings, which were clearly influenced by the post-impressionist art she loved. The couple lived at a number of locations in France, at

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...

, at

Saint-Savin-sur-Gartempe Saint-Savin (), also referred to as Saint-Savin-sur-Gartempe (, literally ''Saint-Savin on Gartempe''), is a Communes of France, commune in the Vienne Departments of France, department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Regions of France, region in western ...

and latterly in

Poitiers Poitiers (, , , ; Poitevin: ''Poetàe'') is a city on the River Clain in west-central France. It is a commune and the capital of the Vienne department and the historical centre of Poitou. In 2017 it had a population of 88,291. Its agglomerat ...

. Carrington continued to exhibit in England and had exhibitions at several commercial galleries including at the Sue Rankin Gallery, the Thackeray, the Grosvenor and Crane. Her husband published a memoir of Carrington in 2005 to coincide with a memorial exhibition of her work at the Thackeray Gallery.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Carrington, Joanna 1931 births 2003 deaths 20th-century English painters 20th-century English women artists Alumni of the Central School of Art and Design Artists from London English landscape artists English women painters Naïve painters People from Hampstead Pseudonymous artists