George Bissill (1896-1973)
Church view from the railway
Watercolour
28 x 40 cm
Signed to lower right
Born in 1896, George Bissill was a British miner, painter and furniture designer. Raised in the mining village of Langley Mill, Derbyshire, Bissill became a miner at the age of 13, before leaving to join the war effort in 1915. Upon his return from the war after being gassed, Bissill chose to become a pavement artist outside the newly erected Bush House in Aldwych, painting from his memory and his sketch book the uncompromising underground world he had inhabited.
In 1935 he moved to the countryside near Newbury, where he lived and worked as a landscape painter, art restorer and dealer until his death in 1973.
This watercolour forms part of a larger collection, ‘unseen since they were taken from George Bissil’s studio in 1983’ and restored by Kate Pattinson. A series of planned exhibitions were cancelled due to Covid, but two shows, one in Oxford and one in Ilkeston, did take place. Through such exhibitions, Pattinson hoped to ‘restore the reputation of an artist who, through mighty endeavour, conquered the art world in the 1920s with his powerful, authentic and experimental pictures.’
Bissill’s paintings are also held in a number of important public collections, including the Tate Gallery, National Museum of Ireland and the Manchester Art Gallery.
This watercolour depicts a view of a church from a distance. In the foreground, a railway tunnel peaks out of a gently rolling hill and wooden fences snake across the small fields adjacent to the railway. In the background, the church–which bears a striking resemblance to the medieval Cathedral in Norwich–stands out in the skyline of red roofs. The earthen colours of this composition have a distinctly calming effect, capturing a quiet moment of 20th century life.
Condition: generally very good.
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