Marion Elizabeth Adnams (3 December 1898 – 24 October 1995) was an English painter, printmaker and draughtswoman. She is notable for her

surrealist Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to ...

paintings, in which apparently unconnected objects appear together in unfamiliar, often outdoor, environments. Some of her paintings depict landscapes and landmarks close to, or within, her native town of

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby g ...

Biography

Alter Ego, by Marion Adnams, oil on board, 1945

Adnams was born on 3 December 1898 at 22 Otter Street,

, the only daughter of John Frederick Adnams and his wife, Mary Elizabeth Smith. Her artistic interests were encouraged from an early age by her father, himself a woodwork teacher at Derby School. After attending Parkfield Cedars School in Derby, she expressed a desire to study art but was instead urged to go on and study at University College, Nottingham, where she obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Modern Languages in 1919. Between 1927 and 1930, Adnams travelled to Belgium, France, and Italy, executing

woodcut Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking. An artist carves an image into the surface of a block of wood—typically with gouges—leaving the printing parts level with the surface while removing the non-printing parts. Areas tha ...

s of the architecture she encountered en route, and exhibiting them to some acclaim at Derby Art Gallery and elsewhere locally with the Derby Women's Art Club. She began her career not as a language teacher, but as art mistress at Derby's Central School for Girls before being recommended for a transfer to the newly opened Homelands Grammar School for Girls, by the Derbyshire Education Committee, in October 1937. She was appointed senior lecturer at Derby Diocesan Training College in 1948, where she rose to become Head of Art. Between 1938 and 1970, Adnams painted the surrealist works for which she is principally known, exhibiting at the British Art Centre in London, alongside

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 i ...

Augustus John Augustus Edwin John (4 January 1878 – 31 October 1961) was a Welsh painter, draughtsman, and etcher. For a time he was considered the most important artist at work in Britain: Virginia Woolf remarked that by 1908 the era of John Singer Sarge ...

, Henry Moore,

Jacob Epstein Sir Jacob Epstein (10 November 1880 – 21 August 1959) was an American-British sculptor who helped pioneer modern sculpture. He was born in the United States, and moved to Europe in 1902, becoming a British subject in 1911. He often produce ...

, and

Eileen Agar Eileen Forrester Agar (1 December 1899 – 17 November 1991) was a British-Argentinian painter and photographer associated with the Surrealist movement. Biography Agar was born in Buenos Aires, to a Scottish father and American mother. Her fat ...

. In 1944 she exhibited her work at the Modern Art Gallery in London, alongside Jack Bilbo and

Max Ernst Max Ernst (2 April 1891 – 1 April 1976) was a German (naturalised American in 1948 and French in 1958) painter, sculptor, printmaker, graphic artist, and poet. A prolific artist, Ernst was a primary pioneer of the Dada movement and Surrealis ...

. In 1939, Adnams sold her first painting, ''The Living Tree'' (1939), to

Manchester Art Gallery Manchester Art Gallery, formerly Manchester City Art Gallery, is a publicly owned art museum on Mosley Street in Manchester city centre. The main gallery premises were built for a learned society in 1823 and today its collection occupies three ...

for inclusion in their Rutherson Collection of Modern Art for Schools. Further sales of her paintings to Derby Art Gallery from 1945 and to the

Salford Museum and Art Gallery Salford Museum and Art Gallery, in Peel Park, Salford, Greater Manchester, opened to the public in November 1850 as the Royal Museum and Public Library. The gallery and museum are devoted to the history of Salford and Victorian art and architect ...

and

Nottingham Castle Museum Nottingham Castle is a Stuart Restoration-era ducal mansion in Nottingham, England, built on the site of a Norman castle built starting in 1068, and added to extensively through the medieval period, when it was an important royal fortress and ...

s from the early 1950s have ensured her work a measure of public presence. Adnams retired in 1960 aged sixty-one, using her time to develop her art in new directions. She acquired a second home in France, producing paintings and drawings influenced by the landscape of Provence and elsewhere. In 1966 she painted a series of murals for the Immanuel Church in Stapenhill, near

Burton upon Trent Burton upon Trent, also known as Burton-on-Trent or simply Burton, is a market town in the borough of East Staffordshire in the county of Staffordshire, England, close to the border with Derbyshire. In 2011, it had a population of 72,299. The ...

. In 1968, at the age of seventy, she became partially blind. As her condition worsened, she was left unable to paint. She died in Derby on Tuesday 24 October 1995, aged ninety-six years old. Her funeral was held at

Derby Cathedral The Cathedral Church of All Saints Derby, better known as Derby Cathedral, is a cathedral church in the city of Derby, England. In 1927, it was promoted from parish church status, to a cathedral, creating a seat for the Bishop of Derby, w ...

on Thursday 2 November 1995, before burial at Nottingham Road Cemetery in Derby.

Exhibitions

* 1939: ''First Exhibition of Paintings, Sculptures, and Watercolours by Members of the British Art Centre'', at the Stafford Gallery, London * 1940: ''People and Flowers: the Fourth Exhibition of the British Art Centre'', at the Stafford Gallery, London * 1940: ''Limelight'', at the Stafford Gallery, London * 1943: ''Northern Artists Exhibition'', at Manchester Art Gallery * 1944: '''The World of Imagination' An Exhibition of 'Oodles', Abstracts, Surrealism, 'Merz'-Sculpture, Constructivism and Symbolism'', at the Modern Art Gallery Limited, London * 1971: ''Marion Adnams: a Retrospective Exhibition of Paintings and Drawings'', at the Midland Group Gallery in Nottingham * 1995: ''British and European Surrealism'', at Wolverhampton Art Gallery and Museum * 2009: ''Angels of Anarchy: Women Artists and Surrealism'', at

* 2011: ''Three Stones in the City of Ladies'', at

* 2017: ''John Armstrong: Dream and Reality'', at The Atkinson, Southport * 2017-8 ''Marion Adnams - A Singular Woman'' at Derby Museum and Art Gallery, Derby * 2019: ''50/50; Fifty Works by Fifty British Women Artists 1900 – 1950'' curated by Sacha Llewellyn, London and Leeds * 2019: ''British Surrealism'' curated by David Boyd Haycock, Dulwich Picture Gallery

Legacy

Adnam's work can be found in numerous public art collections, including those of

, Salford Museums,

and Art Gallery, Leicestershire County Council, and the

Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art is part of the National Galleries of Scotland, which are based in Edinburgh, Scotland. The National Gallery of Modern Art houses the collection of modern and contemporary art dating from about 1900 to th ...

. The largest public collection of her work is with the Derby Museums Trust. In 2011, the British milliner Stephen Jones designed and created a range of hats, titled ''Drifting and Dreaming'', inspired by the work of Marion Adnams.

References

External links

Exhibition ''Marion Adnams: A Singular Woman''
held (between 2 December 2017 - 4 March 2018) at ''Museum & Art Gallery Derby'
Derby Museum Free Home

Biography ''Marion Adnams''
a
Art UK

Marion Adnams
is being presented on the websit
National Galleries Scotland
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adnams, Marion 1898 births 1995 deaths 20th-century English women artists 20th-century English painters Alumni of the University of Nottingham British muralists British surrealist artists English women painters People from Derby Women printmakers Women surrealist artists

Biography

Exhibitions

Legacy

See also

References

External links