THE ART OF DORA CARRINGTON 'W\ V ' JANE HILL FOREWORD BY MICHAEL HOLROYD . SiMB^'VaKIIIBi $24.95 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.