Mary Fedden, OBE RA RWA (14 August 1915 – 22 June 2012) was a British artist.

Early years

Sometimes mistakenly described as the daughter of

Roy Fedden Sir Alfred Hubert Roy Fedden MBE, FRAeS (6 June 1885 – 21 November 1973) was an engineer who designed most of Bristol Engine Company's successful piston aircraft engine designs. Early life Fedden was born in the Bristol area to fairly weal ...

(who was in fact her uncle, as was

Romilly Fedden Arthur Romilly Fedden (1875–1939) was an English artist and watercolourist. The son of businessman Henry Fedden, his younger brother was the engineer Roy Fedden. Romilly studied under Hubert von Herkomer at Bushey, at the Académie Julian in ...

), Mary Fedden was born in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

where she attended the city's

Badminton School Badminton School is an independent, boarding and day school for girls aged 3 to 18 years situated in Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol, England. Named after Badminton House in Clifton, Bristol, where it was founded, the school has been located at its ...

. At the age of 16, she studied at the

Slade School of Fine Arts 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 ...

, London from 1932 to 1936. Of her time at the Slade, she recalled, 'after Badminton, the Slade was like stepping from hell into heaven.' At the Slade, Fedden was a pupil of the theatre designer,

Vladimir Polunin Vladimir Polunin (1880 – 11 March 1957) was a scene painter. Born in the Russian Empire, in 1908 Polunin moved to London to work as a designer for the '' Ballets russes''. He was Diaghilev's chief scene-painter and worked with Picasso. Among ...

. When she finished her studies, she taught, painted portraits and created stage designs for

Sadler's Wells Theatre Sadler's Wells Theatre is a performing arts venue in Clerkenwell, London, England located on Rosebery Avenue next to New River Head. The present-day theatre is the sixth on the site since 1683. It consists of two performance spaces: a 1,500-seat ...

. She then returned to Bristol where she painted and taught until World War II broke out. During the Second World War, Fedden served in the

Women's Land Army The Women's Land Army (WLA) was a British civilian organisation created in 1917 by the Board of Agriculture during the First World War to bring women into work in agriculture, replacing men called up to the military. Women who worked for the W ...

and the Woman's Voluntary Service and as a driver for the

NAAFI The Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes (NAAFI ) is a company created by the British government on 9 December 1920 to run recreational establishments needed by the British Armed Forces, and to sell goods to servicemen and their families. It runs ...

in Europe. She was also commissioned to create murals for the war effort.

Style and influences

After the war was over, Fedden developed her own style of flower paintings and still lifes, reminiscent of artists such as

Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known prima ...

and

Braque Georges Braque ( , ; 13 May 1882 – 31 August 1963) was a major 20th-century List of French artists, French painter, Collage, collagist, Drawing, draughtsman, printmaker and sculpture, sculptor. His most notable contributions were in his all ...

. In 1995, she acknowledged in an interview in '' The Artist'' magazine: Fedden's subjects are often executed in a bold, expressive style with vivid, contrasting colours, although her work of 2005–6 uses a narrower tonal range. Her still lifes are often placed in front of a landscape, as she enjoyed the contrasting of disparate, even quirky elements. When using watercolours she emphasised the rough texture of her favourite Indian papers.

Exhibitions

Fedden exhibited in one-person shows throughout the UK every year from 1947 until her death in 2012. These included the Mansard Gallery in Heal's Department Store in 1947,

Redfern Gallery The Redfern Gallery is an exhibition space in the West End of London specialising in contemporary British art. It was founded by Arthur Knyvett-Lee and Anthony Maxtone Graham in 1923 as an artists' cooperative on the top floor of Redfern H ...

, London from 1953, the New Grafton Gallery, London from the 1960s, the Hamet Gallery from 1970, the

Arnolfini Gallery Arnolfini is an international arts centre and gallery in Bristol, England. It has a programme of contemporary art exhibitions, artist's performance, music and dance events, poetry and book readings, talks, lectures and cinema. There is also a ...

, Bristol, Bohun Gallery, Henley on Thames from 1984 and at the

Beaux Arts Gallery Beaux Arts Gallery was a gallery at 1 Bruton Place, London, England. It was known as a preeminent center for promoting avant-garde art until its closure in 1965. Founded and operated by portrait sculptor Frederick Lessore in 1923, the gallery wa ...

, London in the 1990s. A major exhibition of her work was held at the

Royal West of England Academy The Royal West of England Academy (RWA) is Bristol's oldest art gallery, located in Clifton, Bristol, near the junction of Queens Road and Whiteladies Road. Situated in a Grade 2* listed building, it hosts five galleries and an exhibition program ...

in 1996.

Major exhibitions

* 1967 – Mansard Gallery, Heal's, London * 1988, 1996 – Royal West of England Academy * 2008, 2014, 2015, 2017 – Portland Gallery, London * 2016 – Jerwood Gallery, Hastings

Commissions and societies

Fedden also received several commissions for murals, notably the

Festival of Britain The Festival of Britain was a national exhibition and fair that reached millions of visitors throughout the United Kingdom in the summer of 1951. Historian Kenneth O. Morgan says the Festival was a "triumphant success" during which people: ...

in 1951, the P&O liner Canberra in 1961,

Charing Cross Hospital Charing Cross Hospital is an acute general teaching hospital located in Hammersmith, London, United Kingdom. The present hospital was opened in 1973, although it was originally established in 1818, approximately five miles east, in central Lond ...

in 1980 (along with her husband, Julian Trevelyan), Colindale Hospital in 1985, and for schools in Bristol, Hertfordshire and London. In 1956, Fedden became a member of the

London Group The London Group is a society based in London, England, created to offer additional exhibiting opportunities to artists besides the Royal Academy of Arts. Formed in 1913, it is one of the oldest artist-led organisations in the world. It was form ...

and became the chairperson of the

Women's International Art Club The Women's International Art Club, briefly known as the Paris International Art Club, was founded in Paris in 1900. The club was intended to "promote contacts between women artists of all nations and to arrange exhibitions of their work", and ...

, a post she held for three years.

Collections

Her work can be found in numerous public and private collections such as the

Chantrey Bequest Sir Francis Leggatt Chantrey (7 April 1781 – 25 November 1841) was an English sculptor. He became the leading portrait sculptor in Regency era Britain, producing busts and statues of many notable figures of the time. Chantrey's most notable w ...

for the

Tate Gallery Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...

, HM the Queen's Collection, HM the Queen for Windsor Castle, the Pallant House Gallery,

Peterborough Museum Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

, the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...

in London,

Contemporary Art Society The Contemporary Art Society (CAS) is an independent charity that champions the collecting of outstanding contemporary art and craft for UK museum collections. Since its founding in 1910 the organisation has donated over 10,000 works to museums ...

Falmouth Art Gallery Falmouth Art Gallery is a publicly funded art gallery in Cornwall, with one of the leading art collections in Cornwall and southwest England, which features work by old masters, major Victorian artists, British and French Impressionists, leadin ...

Durham University , mottoeng = Her foundations are upon the holy hills (Psalm 87:1) , established = (university status) , type = Public , academic_staff = 1,830 (2020) , administrative_staff = 2,640 (2018/19) , chancellor = Sir Thomas Allen , vice_chan ...

, the

University of Bath (Virgil, Georgics II) , mottoeng = Learn the culture proper to each after its kind , established = 1886 (Merchant Venturers Technical College) 1960 (Bristol College of Science and Technology) 1966 (Bath University of Technology) 1971 (univ ...

, Jerwood Collection,

UK Government Art Collection , type = Department , logo = Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport logo.svg , logo_width = , logo_caption = , seal = , seal_width = , seal_caption = , picture = Gove ...

, the City Art Galleries of Carlisle, Hereford, Hull, Bristol, Edinburgh and Sheffield.

Teaching

Fedden taught painting at the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It offe ...

from 1958 to 1964, and was the first woman tutor in the Painting School. Her pupils included

David Hockney David Hockney (born 9 July 1937) is an English painter, draftsman, printmaker, stage designer, and photographer. As an important contributor to the pop art movement of the 1960s, he is considered one of the most influential British artists o ...

and

Allen Jones Allen Jones may refer to: *Allen Jones (Continental Congress) (1739–1798), Continental Congress delegate *Allen Jones (artist) (born 1937), British pop artist *Allen Jones (record producer) (1940–1987), American record producer * A.J. Styles (A ...

. She subsequently taught at the

Yehudi Menuhin School The Yehudi Menuhin School is a Specialist school, specialist music school in Stoke d'Abernon, Surrey, England, founded in 1963 by violinist and conductor Yehudi Menuhin. The current director of music is the British classical pianist Ashley Wass. ...

Cobham, Surrey Cobham () is a large village in the Borough of Elmbridge in Surrey, England, centred south-west of London and northeast of Guildford on the River Mole. It has a commercial/services High Street, a significant number of primary and private s ...

, from 1965 to 1970.

Personal life

In 1951, Mary Fedden married the artist

Julian Trevelyan Julian Otto Trevelyan (20 February 1910 – 12 July 1988) was an English artist and poet. Early life Trevelyan was the only child to survive to adulthood of Robert Calverley Trevelyan and his wife Elizabeth van der Hoeven. His grandfather wa ...

Later career

In 1995 the writer and critic Mel Gooding wrote a monograph on her work tracing her long career up to her marriage to

and their life together on the Thames at

Chiswick Chiswick ( ) is a district of west London, England. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist William Hogarth; Chiswick House, a neo-Palladian villa regarded as one of the finest in England; and Full ...

, London. In 2007, a second book on Fedden written by Christopher Andreae was published, tracing her whole career up to 2006. From 1984, Fedden held the post of President of the RWA, up until 1988, the same year her husband Julian Trevelyan died. She was an academician of the

and received an honorary doctorate from the

. She also received an OBE and an honorary degree from the

University of Durham Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by royal charte ...

(2009) for her work. For many years, Fedden was a close friend of the former television presenter,

Anna Ford Anna Ford (born 2 October 1943) is an English former journalist, television presenter and newsreader. She first worked as a researcher, news reporter and later newsreader for Granada Television, ITN, and the BBC. Ford helped launch the British ...

. Fedden remained a prolific and popular painter until her death in 2012. She continued to live and work in the studio she shared with her husband from the 1940s on the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...

, London. She died, aged 96, in London.

References

External links

*
Private collection of Mary Fedden's work
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fedden, Mary 1915 births 2012 deaths 20th-century English painters 21st-century English painters Academics of the Royal College of Art Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art Artists from Bristol Modern painters Officers of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Badminton School Royal Academicians English women painters