Nora Lucy Mowbray Cundell (20 May 1889 – 3 August 1948) was an English painter of figure subjects, flowers and landscapes in oil and watercolours.
Biography
Cundell was born in London and was the granddaughter of the artist Henry Cundell.
She attended the
Blackheath School of Art and the
Westminster Technical Institute
The Westminster School of Art was an art school in Westminster, London.
History
The Westminster School of Art was located at 18 Tufton Street, Deans Yard, Westminster, and was part of the old Royal Architectural Museum.
H. M. Bateman described ...
where she was taught by
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 ...
.
Cundell studied part-time at the
Slade School of 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 ...
from 1911 to 1914, and then again in 1919.
At the Slade, she won the Melvill Nettleship Prize for figure composition in 1914.
In 1925, Cundell had her first solo exhibition at the
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 Hous ...
in London.
Her painting ''Maggie'' was exhibited at the
salon
Salon may refer to:
Common meanings
* Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments
* French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home
* Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment
Arts and entertainment
* Salon (P ...
of the
Académie des Beaux-Arts
An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...
in Paris during 1929.
In 1930 Cundell was among the founding members of the National Society of Painters, Sculptors and Gravers/Printmakers.
Cundell visited America on a regular basis and in particular painted portraits of Native Americans and also landscapes in Arizona and Colorado.
Marble Canyon
Marble Canyon is the section of the Colorado River canyon in northern Arizona from Lee's Ferry to the confluence with the Little Colorado River, which marks the beginning of the Grand Canyon.
Lee's Ferry is a common launching point for rive ...
and the
Vermillion Cliffs
The Vermilion Cliffs are the second "step" up in the five-step Grand Staircase of the Colorado Plateau, in northern Arizona and southern Utah. They extend west from near Page, Arizona, for a considerable distance, in both Arizona and Utah.
o ...
were among her favourite subjects.
She wrote and illustrated the book ''Unsentimental Journey'' which was published in 1940 and included accounts of her travels in America, driving coast to coast with stops to go hunting on horseback or visit a rodeo.
Among her paintings from these trips were ''Madonna of the Painted Desert'' and ''Badger Creek Rapids'', a stretch of the
Colorado River
The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid drainage basin, watershed that encompasses parts of ...
, which were both shown at 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 1936.
Cundell became a regular exhibitor at the Royal Academy, and also with the
New English Art Club
The New English Art Club (NEAC) was founded in London in 1885 as an alternative venue to the Royal Academy. It continues to hold an annual exhibition of paintings and drawings at the Mall Galleries in London, exhibiting works by both members and a ...
and also showed at the
Paris Salon
The Salon (french: Salon), or rarely Paris Salon (French: ''Salon de Paris'' ), beginning in 1667 was the official art exhibition of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Between 1748 and 1890 it was arguably the greatest annual or biennial art ...
.
Her 1922 painting ''Smiling Woman'' is held in the
Tate
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 ...
collection.
Cundell lived for some time at
Dorney
Dorney is a village and civil parish in the Unitary Authority of Buckinghamshire, England, bordering on the River Thames to the west and south, and bisected by the Jubilee River. In 2011 it had a population of 752. It is west of neighbouring E ...
near
Windsor
Windsor may refer to:
Places Australia
* Windsor, New South Wales
** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area
* Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland
**Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...
but died in London in 1948 and her ashes were scattered near
Lee's Ferry
Lees Ferry (also known as Lee's Ferry, Lee Ferry, Little Colorado Station and Saints Ferry) is a site on the Colorado River in Coconino County, Arizona in the United States, about southwest of Page, Arizona, Page and south of the Utah–A ...
in Arizona.
A memorial exhibition was held in 1949 at 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 ...
galleries in London.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cundell, Nora
1889 births
1948 deaths
20th-century English painters
20th-century English women artists
Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art
Alumni of the Westminster School of Art
English women painters
Painters from London