The art of Dora Carrington

152 Pages·1994·21.446 MB·English

by  Jane Hill

THE ART OF
DORA
CARRINGTON
'W\
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JANE
HILL
FOREWORD BY MICHAEL HOLROYD
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THE ART OF
DORA CARRINGTON
Jane Hill
Forewordby tsMchael Holroyd
At the age ofthirty-eight Dora Carrington
(1893-1932) committed suicide, unable to
contemplate livingwithout hercompanion,
Lytton Strachey, whohaddied afew weeks
before. Lyttonwas the linchpin ofa life in
whichfriendships, making ahome and her
ownartistic outputjockeyedforattention.
The associationwithLyttonStrachey and
his Bloomsburyfriends, combined with her
own modesty, have tended to overshadow
Carrington's contribution to modempaint-
ing, butJane Hill's importantstudygoes a
longway to redress the balance. The author
takes achronological viewpoint, looking at
the art Carrington produced ineach period
and the influences upon itofpersonal
relationships, places, andcurrentevents and
trends. The immense range ofherart-
portraits, landscapes, glass paintings and
decorative work-reveal Carringtonasa
significant artistofherperiod.
JACKETFRONT: FairgroundatHenley Regattac.1921
Courtesy: Anthonyd'OffayGallery, London
JACKETBACK: PaintedGramophone 1927.
PortsmouthCityMuseumandArtGallery
BOSTOT^
PUBLIC
LIBRARY

The Art of
DORA
CARRINGTON

The Art
of
DORA
CARRINGTON
Jane Hill
Foreword by Michael Holroyd
Thames and Hudson
Copyright© 1994JaneHill
CopyrightundertheBerneConvention
FirstpublishedinGreatBritain 1994
byTheHerbertPressLtd.
FirstpublishedintheUnitedStatesofAmericain 1994
byThamesandHudsonInc.,500FifthAvenue,
NewYork,NewYork loi10
LibraryofCongressCatalogCardNumber93-61838
ISBN0-500-09244-3
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybe
reproducedortransmittedinanyformorbyanymeans,
electronicormechanical, includingphotocopy,recording
oranyotherinformationstorageandretrievalsystem,
withoutpermissioninwritingfromthepublisher.
Houseeditor:JuliaMacKenzie
DesignedbyPaulineHarrison
PrintedandboundinHongKong
1 1 1
Contents
Acknowledgements 6
Foreword
7
London 1910-1914
1 The Slade Years ofApprenticeship 1
Hurstbourne Tarrant 1914-1917
Own
2 Voice 25
3 The Modem Movement. Black and White 35
Tldmarsh Mill 1917-1924
4 At Home - People and Place Portraiture 47
5 The English Tradition ofPopular Art 65
6 An Expanding World - At Home and Abroad 81
Ham
Spray 1924-1932
7 A Green World - Conversation Pieces 91
8 Vanitas. Fugitive Light 1 1
Conclusion - Time and Tide Wait forNo Man 3
1
Notes 134
Chronology 138
Index 140
To Andrea, for having faith
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This has been a long project, greatly assisted by Rickman, Renato Lusardi and Andrew Douglas for
the goodwill I have met with all round. Limited their continuing interest; Marybeth Hamilton for
space prohibits me mentioning all those who have our breakfast-time discussions; Robin Kinross
been so generous with their time and memories, for his sound judgement; Clive Boursnell for his
but my heartfelt thanks go to each one. In unflagging support; Richard Warholic for being an
particular, 1 would like to thank the Carrington inspiration to me; and my mother, Joyce Hill, for
family for their patience and early guidance: alwaysbeingthere.
Catharine and the late Noel Carrington, and their 1 am grateful to the individuals and publishers
daughters, Joanna Mason and Jane Carrington. who have kindly granted me permission to quote
Frances Partridge hasbeengracious and responsive from copyright material, in particular Jonathan
from the first and 1 would like to thank her for Cape Ltd and the estate of Dora Carrington for
permission toquotefromCarrington'sunpublished permission to quote from Carrington: Letters and
letters and diaries, from Julia: A Portrait of Julia Extracts from her Diaries; Richard Gamett for
Strachey by Herselfand Frances Partridge, and to permission to quote from the letters and books of
reproduce paintings and photographs in her David Gamett; Luke Gertler for permission to
possession. I am grateful toseveral institutions and quote from the letters of Mark Gertler; Michael
their staff: the Slade archivist Stephen Chaplin; Holroyd for permission to quote from Lytton
Sally Brown at the British Library-; the Lytton Strachey: A Biography; Lady Pansy Lamb for
Strachey Trust; the Tate Gallery Archive; and the permission to quote from the letters of Henry
Harr>- Ransom Humanities Research Centerat the Lamb; John Murray Ltd for permission to quote
University ot Texas at Austin. I am indebted to from A Life of Dora Carrington 1893-1932 by
the Authors' Foundation and the Acland Edwards Gretchen Gerzina; Sinclair-Stevenson Ltd for
Trust for essential practical support, and thank my permission toquote from The InteriorCastle: ALife
editor Julia MacKenzie both for her contribution of Gerald Brenan by Jonathan Gathome-Hardy;
andforbeingsonice ttiwork with. Thames and Hudson Ltd for permission to quote
Some people ha\e been involved with this book from Carrington: Paintings, Dramings and Decora-
from the beginning and 1 owe them a personal tions byNoelCarrington.
debt: Margaret Brookes for introducing me to
Carrington; Teresa Grimes, who generously shared NOTE
material when we were working on the same Carrington'sspellingand punctuationwereerratic.
subject; Michael Holroyd for his encouragement; Thiese have been retained in places where they
Rych Mills for a constant flow of material from highlight Carrington's wit and character, but
Canada; Jane Wynbome for the extended use of elsewhere theyhavebeencorrected.
hercar; Peigi Angusforthe loanofHiggins House; Dimensions of the pictures are given in centi-
Susie Honeyman, Ginny Perkins, Catherine metresfollowedby inches, heightbeforewidth.