Charles CUNDALL RA RWS (1890-1971)

Born Stretford, Lancashire 1890. Charles Cundall spent his early childhood in Manila & Australia. Returning to England, he attended Ackworth Quaker School,Yorks,and Sale Grammar School, Lancashire. Apprenticed as a pottery designer at Pilkingtons, he attended Manchester School of Art, winning a Scholarhip to the Royal College of Art in 1912. War service in the army followed in 1914. Two years later he was badly wounded in the right arm and hospitalised in England. He then learnt to paint with his left hand,returned to the Royal College of Art and transferred to The Slade School of Art.
In 1918 he rented a Chelsea studio for seven shillings a week (£18 a year!). Then,in 1920 he went to Paris, renting a studio in Place de la Sorbonne, and painted in Colarossi’s atelier.

He had an amazing talent for capturing big crowd scenes and great sporting events. The Chantrey Bequest bought“Bank Holiday Brighton"for the Tate Gallery 1933 and, in 1938 “Building in Berkeley Square” also for The Tate. HM Queen Mary (by then The Queen Mother) bought “Coronation Day, 1937”.
Recording such events he established a reputation as a social historian with many Commissions, and he was appointed War Artist to The Royal Navy and The Royal Air Force.
Other spectaculars included: FA Cup Final 1936; The Lord Mayors Show; The Serpentine Regatta; The Derby; The Test Match at Lord’s, 1938 (owned by the MCC); Henley Regatta; Burnham Regatta; The St Leger; Durham Miners Gala; The Withdrawal from Dunkirk; The Nuremberg Trials; New York Harbour; Central Park,New York; The Launching of the Queen Elizabeth; Demolition in Berkeley Square, 1937; Chelsea Reach; The Thames at Hammersmith; The Royal Visit to Paris; River Pageant, 1953; Coronation Day,2nd June 1953.
An inveterate traveller, Cundall was elected ARA in 1937 and then RA in 1944.
After the war he was Official artist for the Royal Visit to Africa.
Then,with his painter-wife Jacqueline Pietersen, he embarked upon a lifetime series of painting trips to France, Spain, Italy, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Madeira, New York, Monte Carlo, Austria, Greece,Sussex, and the North of England every year until 1969, when his journeys were limited to London, Oxfordshire, Sussex, Torquay and Dartmouth. One of his last works 'Dartmouth from Kingswear' was painted on his last visit to Dartmouth in 1970.The large version of this painting was bought by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh. The smaller sketch version is on our website.
He died in London on November 4th 1971.

Selected Exhibitions:
Grosvenor Gallery
Colnaghi & Co Galleries
Manchester City Art Gallery
Leicester Galleries
Upper Grosvenor Gallery
Phoenix Gallery Lavenham
Arts Club,Dover Street
Phoenix Gallery Kingston
Liverpool Art Gallery
Pelter Sands Art Gallery,Bristol
Galerie Valerie Knightsbridge
Phoenix Gallery Pimlico
Highgate Fine Art
Works in Public Collections:
Tate Gallery (2)
Contemporary Art Society
Manchester City Art Gallery
Southampton Art Gallery
Bristol City Art Gallery
Imperial War Museum
Preston Art Gallery
Herbert Art Gallery Coventry
Huddersfield Art Gallery
The London Library
National Maritime Museum Greenwich
The Guildhall Museum

Private Collections:
HM The Queen
HRH The Duke of Edinburgh
HM The Queen Mother
Beaverbrook Gallery
Sir John Howard & Partners
Mitchell Engineering
Medici Society
Steel Co of Wales
Lord Forte The Lords Taverners
Chelsea Football Club
Leander Rowing Club
Associated Television
The Haberdashers Company ( 3)
The Marylebone Cricket Club

Summary of principal painting trips 1920 - 1970

1920’s - France, Italy. Extensive work in Paris 1930’s France,England,Italy,Spain,Ireland
1939-with King GeorgeVI&Queen Elisabeth to Quebec 1939-45 Official War Artist to the Royal Air Force and The Royal Navy;
1945-46 Great Britain,Battle, Portmadoc, Oxford
1947 - Royal visits to West Africa & South Africa
1947 - Ireland
1948 - Paris, Rome, Orvieto
1949 - Florence,Venice,Norfolk,Huddersfield
1949 - Westport, Newport
1950 - Bradford,Shropshire, Paris
1951 - England, Paris, Avignon, Arles
1952 - Ireland, Wales, England
1953 - The Coronation & Windsor Castle series
1954 - England, Paris, Verona, Lake Garda
1955 - Venice, Athens, Scotland, Paris
1956 - Scotland, Wales, Paris, Italy
1957 - Monte Carlo, Henley
1958 - The Roosevelt Memorial, Grosvenor Square
Monte Carlo, Menton, Sussex,Henley,Wales
1959 - Scotland,Menton,Monte Carlo, New York
1960 - Paris,Perugia,Salzburg,Vienna, Menton 1960 - Hammersmith Rowing series, Menton
1961 - Florence,Perugia,Sussex,HydePark Underpass 1962 - Madeira, Paris,Arundel, Coventry
1963 - Avignon, Ireland, Sussex
1964 - Menton,Roquebrune,Grasse,Cannes
1964 - Arundel, Italy
1965 - Cannes, Grasse, Roquebrune, Lucca
1965 - Sussex, Ireland
1966 - Lucca,Cannes,Florence,Windsor
1967 - Cannes, Oxfordshire, Ireland
1968 - Cannes,St.Thomas’s Hospital,Ireland
1969 - London and Sussex
1970 - Torquay, Dartmouth,Royal Naval College
1971 - Died in London, November 4th

Noel Oddy 2008Copyright www.oddyart.com 2008