Edward Bawden: Storyteller

A special exhibition celebrating the work of Edward Bawden will be taking place at Morley Gallery from 4 – 26 November 2014. Edward Bawden: Storyteller will be the first major retrospective of the artist’s work to take place in London since his death in 1989.

Edward Bawden RA (1903 – 1989) was a British painter, printmaker and illustrator, and produced designs for a number of major firms, including Fortnum & Mason and Transport for London. He was also an official War Artist during the Second World War.

Edward Bawden: Storyteller explores Bawden’s exceptional ability to tell stories through his work, often in surprising ways.

The exhibition, guest-curated by Bawden experts Peyton Skipwith and Alan Powers, will include some of his better-known book covers, advertisements, theatre designs and linocut prints, alongside rarely-seen items, including miniature storybooks created by Bawden for his own children, featuring fables about ants and beetles. A major highlight of the exhibition will be a large painted map of Scarborough commissioned by Tom Laughton of the Pavilion Hotel, which has never previously been loaned for exhibition.

Morley Gallery, the public exhibition space of Morley College, is a fitting setting for the retrospective, with a connection to the artist dating back to his student days. In 1928, Bawden, along with his contemporary, Eric Ravilious, was commissioned to create a mural for the Refectory of Morley College at the rate of £1 a day. The mural was officially launched by former Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin in 1930, but was later destroyed by bomb damage during World War II. Bawden returned to the College to create a second series of murals in 1958, and his witty interpretation of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales remains on the walls of the Refectory to this day. Visitors to Edward Bawden: Storyteller will be able to enjoy refreshments within the Refectory surroundings during the exhibition.

An illustrated catalogue will accompany the exhibition.