George Bissill (1896-1973)
Rural Landscape Scene
Watercolour
39 x 48 cm
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 painting 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 rural landscape. Fields occupy the foreground of the painting, while the background is filled with Bissill’s fluffy watercolour clouds. Yellow fields suggest a rapeseed crop ready to harvest, bringing with it long and warm summer days.
Condition: Generally very good.
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