Samuel William Dodwell RI (1909 in

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– 1990 in

Truro Truro (; kw, Truru) is a cathedral city and civil parish in Cornwall, England. It is Cornwall's county town, sole city and centre for administration, leisure and retail trading. Its population was 18,766 in the 2011 census. People of Truro ...

) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

painter.

Life and work

Sam Dodwell discovered painting at an early age and at the age of 18, while visiting

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

on holiday, decided that the county would be his future home. He was initially prevented from this ambition by family pressure and by the Depression, and took up a career in banking. He rose to the top of a US bank in London and also served through

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as an

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. In his late fifties, he suffered three major heart attacks. After then experimental open-heart surgery, predicted to give him four more years of life, he lived 23 years, during which he achieved his ambition. moving to Cornwall to take up a career as prolific painter. He painted daily, his works inspired by regional subjects, in various media:

oils An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturate ...

, charcoal,

gouache Gouache (; ), body color, or opaque watercolor is a water-medium paint consisting of natural pigment, water, a binding agent (usually gum arabic or dextrin), and sometimes additional inert material. Gouache is designed to be opaque. Gouache ...

watercolour Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...

. His style was inspired by

Impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

, especially Cézanne, and later Cubism. During his career he exhibited at the Royal Academy, Royal Society of British Artists,

Royal Society of Portrait Painters The Royal Society of Portrait Painters is a charity based at Carlton House Terrace, SW1, London that promotes the practice and appreciation of portraiture. Its Annual Exhibition of portraiture is held at Mall Galleries, and it runs a commissi ...

and the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours (of which he was an elected member). His commissions included large sunflower paintings for the Imperial Hotel,

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, and a mural for the

American Chamber of Commerce The United States Chamber of Commerce (USCC) is the largest lobbying group in the United States, representing over three million businesses and organizations. The group was founded in April 1912 out of local chambers of commerce at the urgin ...

in London. He also taught at schools, art societies, studio groups, via television and also to Prince Charles. He was closely associated with the Mid-Cornwall Galleries at St Blazey Gate from their creation in 1980; he is commemorated at this venue by a Sam Dodwell Gallery. A major retrospective exhibition, including some 50 of his works, was staged there in February 2007.

References

* Work of artist who taught Prince Charles, ''Western Daily Press'', Bristol, England, February 24, 2007
Sam Dodwell RI
artist profile, MCG
Play it again, Sam!: A Retrospective of the paintings of Sam Dodwell R.I.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dodwell, Sam 1909 births 1990 deaths 20th-century English painters English male painters Members of the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours 20th-century English male artists