Mary Fedden

MARY FEDDEN OBE RA PPRWA Bristol 1915 - 2012 London Born in Bristol in 1915, Mary Fedden studied at the Slade School of Art in London from 1932 to 1936 and during the war painted sets for the Arts Theatre in Great Newport Street, London. At the end of the war, Fedden began to paint in earnest developing her own personal style which owed much to the influence of the French and Russian modernists. In 1951 she married the British artist Julian Trevelyan and they devoted themselves to art and travel. Her paintings throughout the 1950s were greatly influenced by her husband and they collaborated on a number of occasions often being commissioned to paint murals together. By the start of the 1960s, Fedden was beginning to formulate her own unique style using pure, vibrant colours. From 1958 to 1964 she was a tutor at the Royal College of Art where her pupils included David Hockney and Allen Jones, then from 1965 until 1970, she taught at the Yehudi Menuhin School at Cobham in Surrey. Mary Fedden was best known for her bold, vivid still lifes and her colourful views of Italy and North Africa. Her work was touched by a unique naïveté and she will remain one of Britain’s best loved artists. She continued to work from the studio in Hammersmith that she shared with her husband (who died in 1988) well into her nineties. Biographical Chronology 1915Born in Bristol on 14th August 1932Commenced studies at the Slade School of Art, London, where she was inspired by her tutor, Vladimir Polunin and met Julian Trevelyan for the first time 1936Graduated from Slade School of Art, London and returned to her native Bristol to teach 1939-44Moved to London and joined the Land Army and the Women’s Voluntary Service 1944Called up and sent to Europe as a driver for the Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes 1946Returned to London, buying a house in Redcliffe Road with Maise Meiklejohn 1947First one-woman exhibition at the Mansard Gallery in Heal’s Department Store, which led to a three year commission to paint the covers of Woman magazine 1949 Travelled through Europe with the artist Julian Trevelyan. On their return to London they settled together in Trevelyan’s home and studio by the Thames at Durham Wharf, Chiswick 1951 Married Julian Trevelyan Painted a mural for the children’s section in the Television pavilion on the South Bank at the Festival of Britain Taught at the Royal College of Art, London where she was the first female tutor in the Painting School, her pupils including David Hockney, Allen Jones and Patrick Caulfield 1961 Commissioned to paint a mural for the P&O liner Canberra 1965-70Taught at the Yehudi Menuhin School, Surrey 1980 Painted mural for Charing Cross Hospital with Julian Trevelyan 1984-88President of Royal West of England Academy, Bristol 1985 Painted a mural for Colindale Hospital 1988 Death of Julian Trevelyan 1992 Elected Royal Academician in the Senior Order 1995Publication of Mary Fedden written by Mel Gooding 1996 Received an Honorary Doctorate of Literature from the University of Bath 1997Awarded OBE 2007Publication of Mary Fedden. Enigmas and Variations by Christopher Andreae 2012 Died in Chiswick on 22nd June Select Bibliography Mel Gooding, Mary Fedden, Scolar Press, 1995 Christopher Andreae, Mary Fedden, Enigmas and Variations, Lund Humphries, 2007 José Manser, Mary Fedden and Julian Trevelyan: Life and Art by the River Thames, Unicorn Press Ltd, London, 2012 Illustrated books Suzannah Amoore, Motley the Cat, Viking, London, 1997 Jane Gardam, The green man: an eternity, The Windrush Press, Moreton-in-Marsh, 1998 Mary Fedden with foreword by Mel Gooding, Birds, The Windrush Press, Moreton-in-Marsh, 1999 Works by Mary Fedden can be found in the following public collections: Abbot Hall Art Gallery, Kendal, Cumbria Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery Bristol Museum and Art Gallery Chelsea and Westminster Health Charity Contemporary Art Society Derbyshire & Derby School Library Service Durham University Government Art Collection Gracefield Arts Centre, Dumfries and Galloway Council Guildford House Gallery Herbert Art Gallery & Museum. Coventry Hereford Museum and Art Gallery HM The Queen Imperial College Healthcare Charity Art Collection, St Mary’s Hospital, London Lucy Cavendish Collection, Cambridge National Gallery of New Zealand National Assembly for Wales / Ty Hywel National Museum of Wales / Amgueddfa Cymru, Cardiff The New Art Gallery Walsall New Hall Art Collection, Murray Edwards College, University of Cambridge Newnham College, University of Cambridge Newport Museum and Art Gallery Nuffield College, University of Oxford Open University Otter Gallery, University of Chichester Pallant House Gallery, Chichester Pembroke College Oxford JCR Art Collection Peterborough Museum & Art Gallery Reading Museum & Town Hall Royal Academy of Arts, London Royal West of England Academy, Bristol Museums Sheffield Southampton City Art Gallery Swindon Art Gallery Tate Britain Tulie House Museum and Art Gallery Trust, Carlisle Mead Gallery, University of Warwick University of Bath University College London Hospitals University of Leeds Gallery Art Collection and Gallery University of York Victoria Art Gallery, Bath Whitworth Art Gallery, University of Manchester Williamson Art Gallery & Museum, Wirral York Museums Trust