Edward Bawden and the Co-Working Cat

Like many of you, I am adapting to life with cat co-workers. Edgar B Partridge and Dulcibella Mopsa have been used to having a quiet house during the week but now they have their 8 year old human sister full time and have also taken on new job roles. Depending on what side of the kitchen table they choose to be on they are either Assistant Keepers or School Cats (providing a welcome head to stroke during the trials of home schooling). So far they seem to be very good at their new roles. 

They also give me exercise by meowing to come inside the house several times a day and as long as they have a chair to sit on and the occasional treat they are quite self-contained. I think Edward Bawden’s cats must have been similar, I can’t imagine he was able to create the huge body of work he left to The Higgins Bedford with a cat that jumped on his lino blocks or yowled constantly for attention.  

Cats appear in so much of his work. Amongst my favourites are the watercolours he made of Emma Nelson, his beautiful black rescue cat who he depicts in different rooms of his home in Saffron Walden. Sadly we don’t have any in the collection but we do have a depiction of one of Emma’s predecessors from Boxing Day, 1981. She can be seen, in the perfect spot for a cat on a cold day, in front of the gas stove, which Bawden has added wheels, a funnel and a cloud of smoke to turn it into a locomotive for the entertainment of his family.

Edward Bawden (1903-1989) Decoration for my Studio on the Occasion of a Boxing Day given to the Family by the Artist. 1981 © The Edward Bawden Estate

In his advertising work, his cats are far more active and mischievous. For Fortnum and Mason's Christmas Catalogue, they drink and dance the night away at cocktail parties. However it’s the illustrations for Christmas card for The Twentieth Century which are my favourite, as the cats are at their most playful. They chase their food around the sitting room, play ‘blind cat’s buff’ with a fish and even play tunes on the the violin!

Edward Bawden (1903-1989) Fortnum and Mason’s Christmas Catalogue, 1956 © The Edward Bawden Estate

Edward Bawden (1903-1989) Christmas card for The Twentieth Century, 1958 © The Edward Bawden Estate

The Twentieth Century was a monthly literary and political journal. As well as Christmas cards, Bawden designed most of the front covers between 1955 and 1961.

Written by Victoria Partridge, Keeper of Fine and Decorative Art

Edward Bawden's Imagined Gardens

At last the sun is out, and I feel incredibly lucky that I can enjoy it safely distanced in my own garden. As parks and gardens become even more precious to all of us, I thought I would write about Edward Bawden’s love of them. Grand parks, small back yards, plants and flowers are the subject of much of his work, in fact there maybe even more horticultural references than there are cats.

Every day he would spend an hour in his own Great Bardfield garden before starting work upstairs in his attic studio. It could be a dangerous hobby, the top joint of his index finger had to be removed after he caught it on a rose and it turned septic. It didn’t slow him down; he was starting to write legibly whilst still in the hospital. My favourite Bawden gardening story though is from the Chelsea Flower Show, to which he apparently advised prospective visitors to take an umbrella and secateurs for covert clipping!

For this blog, as so many of us are without access to a garden, I thought I would share a couple of Bawden’s imaginary gardens from the 1920s. The first is from when he was a student at the Royal College of Art in 1924, ‘Francis Bacon’s Garden’. He was asked to contribute to a book on imagined architecture and although the book was never published, Harold Curwen at The Curwen Press editioned Bawden’s work as a lithograph. The print is based on Francis Bacon’s essay ‘Of Gardens’ from 1625 and follows the text closely, condensing the 30 acres Bacon suggests for a perfect garden into miniature, populated by lords and ladies promenading and the occasional gardener at work. Bacon’s banqueting house is there in the centre, so are the side gardens with their shaded alleys, plenty of fruit trees and at the bottom honeysuckle and sweet briar selected by Bacon for their ‘delightful’ scent.

Edward Bawden (1903-1989) Francis Bacon’s Garden, 1924  © The Edward Bawden Estate

An equally formal garden is the ‘King’s Garden’ from ‘The Life and Adventures of Peter Wilkins’ by Robert Paltock. Published in 1928 Paltocks book is similar in plot to Daniel Defoe’s ‘Robinson Crusoe’, the major difference being the inclusion of Glumms and Gawreys; flying humanoid creatures who inhabit the island on which the hero Peter is stranded. 

Edward Bawden (1903-1989) The King’s Garden, 1928 © The Edward Bawden Estate
Illustration in ‘The Life and Adventures of Peter Wilkins’ by Robert Paltock

Again, this time I imagine much to his own dismay, Bawden followed the author’s description. Paltock’s gardens don’t have flowers but are instead a court of sculptures. ‘These gardens are in perfect architectural accord with the house they adjoin; nor do the changing seasons play havoc with their beauty’. Just behind this plant-less garden, however, there is a touch of greenery which I like to think was of Bawden’s own invention.

Written by Victoria Partridge, Keeper of Fine and Decorative Art

Edward Bawden and the Russell Square Twins

To help my wellbeing during these strange times I have been trying to limit the amount of time I spend looking at social media and read books instead. It is helping me to feel saner and it is so satisfying to tackle the huge pile of books I own and haven’t yet read.

I have just finished reading Faber & Faber – The Untold Story by Toby Faber which tells the tale of the London publishing house from its beginnings in the 1920s. I started it hoping that there would be some interesting insights into Edward Bawden’s work for the company (it turns out he is only mentioned once) but I wasn’t disappointed as the firm’s history was fascinating and included lots on Berthold Wolpe, another of my favourites.

The one thing I did know about Faber & Faber before reading the book was that there was only one Faber, Geoffrey the chairman. According to legend it was the poet Walter de La Mare who suggested the company’s name saying that ‘you can’t have too much of a good thing!’

In the book, Bawden corresponds with Walter’s son and Faber & Faber’s executive director, Richard de La Mare. In 1932 he is looking for someone to illustrate Good Food by Ambrose Heath (one of the few books not in the Higgins Bedford archive) and approaches Bawden, by then a well-established illustrator. Bawden responds ‘I think I have a certain capacity to illustrate this book in the fact that I am a keen gardener and by no means indifferent to good cooking’.

Edward Bawden (1903-1989) Christmas Puzzle List, 1934 © The Edward Bawden Estate

In 1934 Bawden turned the imaginary Russell Square twins into Lewis Carroll’s literary duo Tweedledum and Tweedledee with just a slight tweak to the name. Faber & Faber included a crossword with their Christmas catalogue throughout the 1930’s.

Bawden began illustrating book jackets for Faber in the late 1920's. In the archive there are jackets dating from the firm’s first incarnation as Faber and Gwyer right up to 1969 with a cover for Phocas the Gardener by Paul Bourquin. My favourites from the collection are two he illustrated in the 1930s: A Problem a Day by R.M. Lucey and Archy does his Part by Don Marquis. Both are in typical Bawden style and cleverly use the space provided. They are also both full of fun which is a welcome tonic at the moment.

Edward Bawden (1903-1989) Book Jacket: A Problem a Day © The Edward Bawden Estate

A Problem a Day contains a problem for every day in the year, along with solutions at the end of the book. Hocus and Pocus, depicted in Bawden’s illustration, refers to a puzzle about the number of pages left in a book:

‘You’re a long time getting through that book’ remarked Hocus to his friend. ‘True’ replied Pocus, ‘but I’m nearing the end.’ ‘How many pages are there?’ persisted Hocus. ‘Since you are so curious,’ said Pocus, ‘it may interest you to know that the average number of words per page in this book is 248. The first page contains only 15 words, the last only 5, and the average number of words per page on all the other pages is 249. Now I hope you are satisfied.’

Can you work out how many pages there are?’

Edward Bawden (1903-1989) Book Jacket: Archy does his Part © The Edward Bawden Estate

The Archy of the title is a cockroach poet who befriends an alley cat called Mehitable, who thinks she was Cleopatra in a previous life. The pair feature in a series of books based on Don Marquis' Archy newspaper columns, first published in the New York Evening Sun.

Written by Victoria Partridge, Keeper of Fine and Decorative Art

Exhibition Talks & Tours

Edward Bawden: Home and Abroad Gallery Tour
Wednesday 5th June
12pm - 12:30pm
£5.90, (£4.70 Concessions)

Join exhibition curator Victoria Partridge, for a lunchtime tour of Edward Bawden: Home and Abroad and discover how Bawden's immediate surroundings and overseas travels have influenced his art.

Image: Edward Bawden (1903—1989) Edward Bawden in Portugal —Lisbon, Lithograph after linocut, 1962 ©The Edward Bawden Estate.

Rise and Fall of the Bedfordshire Brickworks by Richard Manning

Wednesday 12th June, 2pm
£5.90, (£4.70 Concessions)

Explore the Rise and Fall of Bedfordshire’s Brickworks with Richard Manning, a former London Brick Company employee of 40 years and Managing Director until 1995. Richard will be sharing his memories of the brickmaking industries in Bedford.

Image: 'Fuelling the brick firing kilns, London Brick Company, Stewartby', 1952 © The Mutual Security Agency

Lunchtime Lecture with Professor Christiana Payne – ‘Round and Round the Garden’
Wednesday 19th June
12pm - 1pm, Free

Join Professor of History of Art at Oxford Brookes University, Christiana Payne, for a lunchtime lecture of the Round and Round the Garden exhibition. Explore our human fascination with gardens and gardening and how they have provided inspiration for artists including, Pre-Raphaelite John Everett Millais, Walter Sickert and Joan Eardley.

This lecture is sponsored by Oxford Brookes University.

Booking is essential for these talks & tours. To book your place, please telephone 01234 718618 or email thehiggins@bedford.gov.uk.

Unseen Works by Major British Artists to be Sold at Fund Raising Auction

Richard Bawden 'A Splash in the Pant'.

During the last decade of his life, Edward Bawden CBE (1903-1989) carefully put together an archive of some three thousand items which he donated to the Cecil Higgins Art Gallery, Bedford. Now Bawden's friend and Executor Peyton Skipwith has instigated and curated a unique sale to be held at Bloomsbury Auctions in central London (28th October 2010), to raise funds for equipping the Edward Bawden Gallery in the new redevelopment of the Art Gallery and Museum.

The sale offers a unique opportunity to buy wonderful, quintessentially English pieces, most of which have never been on the market before. The items offered include drawings, watercolours, prints and illustrated books by Bawden, his associates and friends such as Eric Ravilious, Douglas Percy Bliss and Charles Mahoney - as well as many younger admirers from Peter Blake and David Gentleman to Bernard Dunstan and Michael Foreman. The sale will be held at Bloomsbury Auctions, 24 Maddox Street, London W1S 1PP on Thursday 28th October 2010. A taster exhibition, showing a sample of the works will be held in Bedford Museum from 12th-17th October.

‘As Bawden’s Executor I felt that helping the Cecil Higgins Art Gallery to raise the funds was probably one of the last concrete acts that I could do for his memory,’ says Peyton Skipwith. ‘By approaching many artists and dealers who admire his work and enrolling the help of Bloomsbury Auctions, we have been able to assemble the sixty works to be offered at auction. These range from original pieces by Bawden himself, including his initial design for the Bunyan Tapestry (est. £2500-3500), commissioned by the Cecil Higgins Art Gallery in the early 1970s, to works specially created for the sale.’ The former curator of the Cecil Higgins Art Gallery, Lady Halina Graham, has  very kindly donated 'Campions and Columbine’ by Bawden, who had given and inscribed the lithograph to her.

Amongst the many highlights are drawings by Charles Mahoney and a wood-engraving by Eric Ravilious (est. £300-400), both contemporaries of Bawden’s at the Royal College of Art in the early 1920s, as well as an illustrated letter from Bawden to another fellow-student, Douglas Percy Bliss, written in Florence in 1926 while on a travelling scholarship (est. £300-400). Ronald Maddox and Chris Brown (pictured left) have both given images of Bawden’s home, Brick House, Great Bardfield, Essex (est. £100-150 and £80-120 respectively), while Bawden’s son, Richard, has donated a lino-cut entitled A Splash in the Pant, recalling an amusing incident when the local policeman surprised Bawden and his wife and the Raviliouses, bathing naked in the River Pant that ran close to the bottom of their garden(est. £350-500). Another highlight to whet the appetite, is Tourist Attraction (est. £2000-2500) a tiny gem of a collage(pictured right) by one of Bawden’s star students Peter Blake, who remarked of this work,‘It’s more than a print but less than a watercolour.'

Book illustrators and print-makers have also responded generously and thoughtfully to the request for work. Angie Lewin has donated a lithograph depicting Eric Ravilious’s 1953 Coronation Mug (est. £350-500) and Michael Foreman, Helen Oxenbury and John Burningham (each estimated £80-120) have given copies of their books specially embellished with extra drawings on the title page, making them unique collectors’ pieces. Former students of Bawden’s have been more than happy to contribute to this fund-raising auction for the Bawden Gallery; David Gentleman has given a beautiful Suffolk watercolour landscape (est. £2000-2500) and Chris Brown a range of lino-cuts, including E is for Edward which incorporates a delightful image of Bawden himself (est. £150-200).

Edward Bawden was an award winning painter, printmaker, draughtsman and graphic designer. His unique vision of the world spanned over 60 years, during which he produced some of the most influential designs of the 20th century. The sale at Bloomsbury Auctions is a tribute by the art world - artists, dealers and auctioneers - to the memory of one of Britain’s much-loved artists, and to the perpetuating of his memory; it will ensure that the Edward Bawden Gallery will provide a fitting and lasting home for a major body of work by one of Britain’s most original artists.

For further information and illustrations please contact:

Vanessa Clewes Salmon Tel: 020 8458 3288 email: vanessa.wildwood@gmail.com

or Richard Caton Tel: 020 7495 9494 Ext 207 email: rcaton@bloomsburyauctions.com

Bloomsbury Auctions 24 Maddox Street London W1S 1PP Tel: 0207 495 9494

We've just discovered some fantastic pictures of Edward Bawden's house and studio taken shortly after he died in 1989. Follow this link: http://real-photographs.co.uk/?p=550

Edward Bawden donated over 3000 items to the Art Gallery & Museum and as part of our redevelopment plans we will have a dedicated Edward Bawden Gallery.

New Acquisition - Edward Bawden Manuscript

Peyton Skipworth introduces the new acquistion to local Art Fund members and the Friends of the Art Gallery & Museum.

We've just made an exciting new addition to our Edward Bawden collection. We are pleased to announce the purchase of A General Guide to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Spring and Easter 1923, with the assistance of the Art Fund and the MLA/V&A Purchase Grant Fund. Bawden designed this beautiful illuminated manuscript as a young man and gave it to his close friend, the artist Eric Ravilious. It remained unpublished and was was designed as a mock-up guide book to Kew Gardens, a favourite haunt of the artist throughout his career. A pencil inscription indicates that this manuscript was the artist’s first book.

The book was purchased for £30,000 towards which the Art Fund and the MLA/V&A Purchase Grant Fund each gave £10,000..

Stephen Deuchar, Director of the Art Fund, said: "The vibrant, stylish illustrations and lettering in this work capture the sleek style of 1920s graphic design and exemplify Bawden’s flair for colour and composition. It is wonderful that this rare manuscript – the artist’s first book – has now been acquired for the Cecil Higgins Gallery and Bedford Museum, where it will be cherished within the wider Bawden collection for years to come."

The manuscript is on display in the Lower Gallery in Bedford Gallery from today, alongside a copy of Adam and Evelyn at Kew, or Revolt in the Gardens (1930)by Robert Herring, which Bawden illustrated in 1930 with designs based his earlier unpublished work.

Listen to Tom Perrett, curator of the Cecil Higgins Art Gallery and Bedford Museum, talking about this unique acquisition with the Art Fund’s Marina Bradbury.

To read more about the Art Fund click here.

Browse the manuscript below.

A General Guide to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Spring and Easter 1923 comprises 23 pages worked with watercolour, graphite, bodycolour, drawing ink, graphite and printed text collaged together on edge-gilt pages.

Publications

Since 2002, the Cecil Higgins Art Gallery has been focused on producing high-quality catalogues of it's collections. Each catalogue has been produced in hardback and has a full colour image for every entry.

Edward Bawden
Caroline Bacon, James McGregor

Edward Bawden donated the contents of his studio to the Cecil Higgins Art Gallery between 1981 and 1989. The collection, consisting of over 3,000 items illustrates works from his student days in 1919, through to the 1980s and covers every medium he used from watercolours and prints to examples of his commercial designs. Featuring previously unpublished material, this book will prove an invaluable guide to the work of one of the most important artists of his generation.
Price : £25.00 + £6 p&p

Cecil Higgins Watercolour Catalogue
Evelyn Joll

The Gallery has been collecting British watercolours since 1951. In the past fifty years it has acquired some six hundred of the best known images and examples by leading artists from the late 16th century to the present. Fully illustrated in colour and produced in hardback, this superb catalogue is a indispensable guide to the gallery's collection.
Price £39.95 + £6 p&p

Cecil Higgins Print Catalogue
Caroline Bacon, James McGregor, Julia Nurse

Published as a companion to Cecil Higgins Watercolour Catalogue, this sumptuous and comprehensive catalogue details the print collection held in the Gallery. With over three hundred works fully illustrated, by artists such as Picasso, Matisse, Hockney and Freud, this volume is an indispensable guide to the history of printmaking from the mid-nineteenth century to the end of the 20th century and includes a full glossary of printmaking terms.
Price £35.00 + £6 p&p

To order contact chag@bedford.gov.uk or ring 01234 211222

Some comments on the Edward Bawden Exhibition

We thought it might be nice to share some of the lovely responses we have had to the exhibition in its first week, which has been a fantastic success in terms of numbers of visitors and how much everyone has enjoyed the show - people are already coming back for second visits and the comprehensive catalogue of the archive seems to be on everyone's Christmas lists.

“What a gorgeous exhibition! Inspiring and beautifully displayed – I’m off to buy the lino and cutting tools…”

“Thoroughly enjoyed both this and the Abram Games [exhibition].”

“Excellent! Loved the cats!”

“What a fantastic exhibition. Worth travelling here [from Manchester] especially to see. A remarkable archive & it would be good to see more in years to come. Thanks to Bawden himself for such a generous gift!”

“Superb exhibition, well worth seeing. I’ve always been a fan of his work, and this does it full justice. Thank you.”

“Bawden – Amazing! Such nice type, really crisp, great colours, just incredible. All of the staff are very friendly as well, enjoyed my Bedford Gallery experience.”

“Bawden is so, so good. Such a good designer, amazing commercial stuff. Best exhibition I’ve seen in a very long time.”

“Wonderful collection – will return.”

“A very fine exhibition beautifully curated in very pleasant surroundings.”

Film screenings

Bedford Gallery will be open from 5pm ‘til late, with films starting at 7pm, no need to book. Free event.

See Edward Bawden’s posters for these classic films upstairs then watch the films downstairs.

Thur 3rd Dec The Titfield Thunderbolt (1953)
Ealing comedy, starring Stanley Holloway and George Relph

Thur 21st Jan Hue & Cry (1947)
Ealing comedy starring Alastair Sim

Artists’ talks and workshops at Bedford Gallery

Sat 10th Oct
Linocut Workshop with artist Christopher Brown

11.30am – 3.30pm
FREE event, booking essential. Call 01234 353323
Talk and linocut demonstration from printmaker Chris Brown followed by a chance to make your own linocut print.
Christopher Brown studied at the Royal College of Art where he was introduced to, and eventually assisted, Edward Bawden. Bawden encouraged him to explore linocut as a medium; since then, Christopher has exhibited at the Royal Academy and the V&A.

Sat 14th November
Curwen Studio Taster Days

Booking essential. Call 01234 353323 to book your place.
Printmaking ‘taster’ day at the Curwen Studio. £25 per person (price includes a light lunch) The Curwen Studio, Chilford Hall Linton, Cambridge, CB21 4LE

Many of Edward Bawden’s best known works were printed at the Curwen Press and later the Curwen Studio. Today the Curwen Studio continues to offer facilities for artists’ original printmaking. Taster days offer an opportunity to visit the studio, view the archives, discover how lithography works, and make an original print working alongside experience printmakers.

Thur 22nd Oct Edward Bawden

7pm, booking essential. Call 01234 353323
£10 (price includes refreshments)
An evening lecture at Bedford Gallery, from Peyton Skipwith, Bawden’s Literary Executor and a former director of the Fine Art Society, Bawden’s main London dealer.

Fri 6th November & Fri 20th November
Edward Bawden Archive Afternoon

FREE event. 2pm – 4pm
The archive afternoons are free to attend. Come along to Bedford Gallery between 2 and 4pm to explore works by Edward Bawden that are not included in the exhibition. Art Gallery and Museum staff will be on hand to guide you through the archive – the largest of its kind in the world.


Sat 7th Nov
Illustration and typography workshop with designer Jonny Hannah

FREE event, 2pm – 4pm. Booking essential. Call 01234 353323
Jonny Hannah studied illustration at Liverpool Art School and the Royal College of Art. He works as a commercial illustrator for clients including The Daily Telegraph and produces prints, posters and books through his own Cake & Ale Press.

Sat 23rd Jan
Collage workshop with artist Mark Hearld

FREE event, 2pm – 4pm. Booking essential. Call 01234 353323
Mark Hearld studied illustration at Glasgow School of Art followed by an MA in Natural History Illustration at the Royal College of Art. Working across a number of mediums, he takes inspiration from the flora and fauna of Britain and is influenced by Bawden.

Press

Here are a list of articles in the national press that cover the Cecil Higgins Art Gallery Collections and the opening of Bedford Gallery.

Peyton Skipworth has written an article that appears on page 20 of the Royal Academy Magazine, browsable online

Click on the image to the left to read Martin Gayford's article about Bawden in the Telegraph of Saturday 26th September.

Articles appeared in The New Statesman, May 2009 and

Culture 24, April 2009 about the Cecil Higgins collection when the Treasures exhibiton opened in April.

The Tate website still features information on the colelction from the Treasures show that featured at Tate Britain from 15th September 2008 until 15th February 2009.

Free Lectures

There are a number of lunchtime talks to accompany the exhibitons on Edward Bawden at Bedford Gallery and the Winds of Change exhibiton at Bedford Museum. These talks are free to attend, and are held at Bedford Gallery on the dates stated below. All talks are by gallery staff unless stated.

7th Oct Lunchtime talk: The Edward Bawden archive 1pm – 1.30pm

21st Oct Lunchtime talk: Edward Bawden: Master of the linocut 1pm – 1.30pm

4th Nov Lunchtime talk: Bedfordshire & Japan Part 1 (Marion Maule) 1pm – 1.30pm

11th Nov Lunchtime talk: Printmaking at The Curwen with Tom Martin, Studio Manager 1pm – 1.30pm

12th Nov Evening lecture: Winds of Exchange (Marion Maule) 7pm

18th Nov Lunchtime talk: Bedfordshire & Japan Part 2 (Marion Maule) 1pm – 1.30pm

2nd Dec Lunchtime talk: Bawden and his Circle 1pm – 1.30pm

8th Dec Evening lecture: Admiral Smyth and astronomy in Bedford 7pm

6th Jan Lunchtime talk: Eric Ravilious 1pm – 1.30pm

20th Jan Lunchtime talk: Edward Bawden: Art vs. Design 1pm – 1.30pm

Edward Bawden

3rd October 2009 – 31st January 2010 at Bedford Gallery

From 1981 – 1989 Edward Bawden (1903 – 1989) donated the contents of his studio to the Art Gallery. Edward Bawden was one of Britain’s most original and versatile artists, known for his inventive and often humorous illustrations. This major exhibition sees much of this work on show for the very first time. It covers every medium Bawden used, from watercolours and prints to examples of his commercial design.

The exhibition is accompanied by Edward Bawden by Caroline Bacon and James MacGregor. An illustrated catalogue of the wonderful collection at Cecil Higgins Art Gallery. The book is available at both the museum and gallery shops, or you can order a copy over the phone on 01234 211222 or 01234 353323.

Illustrated in colour throughout, and featuring previously unpublished material.
Edition limited to 2,000 copies
RRP £25
ISBN 0-9512657-5-8

In celebration of the Edward Bawden exhibition, Cecil Higgins Art Gallery and Bedford Museum have also commissioned a limited edition print from the artist Mark Hearld who is inspired by Bawden’s work. ‘Rooster and Railway Carriage’ is a lithographic print in a limited edition of 75. The print costs £225 (plus postage and packing) and measures approximately 485mm by 670mm. It is available by contacting the Cecil Higgins Art Gallery & Bedford Museum on 01234 353323 and will also be on sale from the Bedford Gallery shop during the Edward Bawden exhibition.

Mark Hearld, ‘Rooster and Railway Carriage’ 2009