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Mary Adshead (1904 - 1995)

For Fun, early 1960’s

SKU: 7816
Oil on canvas
36 x 30 in. (91 x 76cm). 

Size:
Height – 91cm
Width – 76cm

DESCRIPTION

Provenance:
Quentin Bone, thence by descent
Presentation:
framed
For many decades  For Fun,  hung at the side of Mary Adshead studio. Humour was a very important aspect of her art.  The composition however, dominated by  a glamourous  croupier, but with sinister figures either side, participating in a the seemingly less than glamourous  activities of a Casino, belies a more serious subject.

Throughout her life she  assimilated new styles, and this composition reflects obvious aspects of the then emerging Pop Art movement.  It might even have been directly  inspired by Hockney’s notorious ‚ÄúLife Painting for a Diploma‚Äù (1962). 

David Hockney  – Life Painting for a Diploma 1962, Yageo Foundation ¬© Yageo Foundation


We are grateful to James Bone for assistance.
Disclaimer:
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THE ARTIST

Mary Adshead
Mary
Adshead
1904 - 1995

Mary Adshead studied at the Slade School of Fine Art (1920’24)
under Henry Tonks (1862’1937), who in 1924 selected her for a
mural commission at Highways boys’ club in Shadwell, working
with Rex Whistler (1905’1944). 

She became a prominent muralist, creating decorations for
both public and private spaces, including the British Pavilion at
the 1937 Paris International Exhibition. She also illustrated several
books, such as The Little Boy and His House by Stephen Bone
(1904’1958) (whom she married in 1929), and made designs for
London Transport and the Post Office. 

As a noteworthy female artist, Adshead exhibited frequently
at the WIAC from the mid ‘1930s, before serving on their
committee in 1951. Working at a time when expectations of
women were still largely confined to issues of domesticity, her
prodigious professional output was noteworthy. Her approach to
mural painting ‘ especially in her choice of subjects and her colourful
palette ‘ challenged the perceived divisions which determined that
public and private spaces should necessarily be treated differently. She
was the subject of a retrospective at Liverpool Art Gallery in 2005.

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Mary Adshead (1904 - 1995)
Street Scene, c. 1930
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A Tropical Fantasy, c. 1926
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Portrait of a Woman Knitting
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On the Beach
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Still Life with Gloves, circa 1935
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Portrait of Marjorie Gertler, 1931
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A Culinary Map of Britain, (Design for glass map for Paris Exhibition 1937 )
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Livestock Market, (recto) Picking Tealeaves (verso), circa 1930
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The Little Boy and His House, 1936
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Still-life of Poinsettia with Leopard Skin, c. 1935
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The Old Rolls on Bodmin Moor, circa 1950
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The Landladys Daughters, Llanbedre, near Harlech, c. 1941
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Lunette design for a school mural, 1930’s
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Portrait of Daphne Charlton, c. 1935
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High Rise, circa 1960
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Garison Lane Nursery Training School, circa 1930
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