Rowland Suddaby (1912-1972)
English Roses – Still Life

Oil on board
39x29cm (frame 58x46cm)
c. 1950s
Artist’s label to reverse
In a fine hand-finished frame

Born in Kimberworth, Yorkshire, Suddaby commenced study in 1926 at the Sheffield College of Art on a scholarship, coming to London at nineteen in 1931. Following an early marriage and an initial struggle as an artist his first successful show was at the Wertheim Gallery in London in 1935, followed by a series of shows at the Redfern Gallery from 1936. For the latter he was their replacement for Christopher Wood (who had sadly killed himself in 1930 by jumping under a train) and he painted assured oils and watercolours – some showing Wood influences – in London and Cornwall. Popular with both art critics and the buying public he had great success.

Early in World War Two, Suddaby moved – with his family – to the Suffolk countryside near Sudbury to become curator of the Gainsborough’s House Museum, East Anglia providing him with the foundations for the pictures for which he is now well known. In 1940 he was chosen for the ‘Recording Britain’ project. Showing something of the influence of John Nash, his distinctive depiction of the East Anglian countryside, with its hedges and fences is instantly recognisable. His still life paintings which he also painted in the 1940s and 50s were exhibited at the Leger Galleries and at the Colchester Art Society of which he was a founder member. By the 1960s he had evolved his style towards abstraction.

He was also a noted designer, producing textiles and furnishings and designing posters for Shell.

His work is in many major collections such as the V&A Museum and the Government Art Collection

If you are interested email info@manningfineart.co.uk or call us on 07929 749056.

Condition: Good.