George Bissill (1896-1973)
View of St Peter’s Church, Willersey
Pencil sketch
25 x 35 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 pencil sketch depicts an idyllic view over a village church. Surrounded by beautiful fields and animal grazing, the traditional village church and adjacent cottages stand out within this rural landscape. Whereas the animals and fields have a distinctly sketchy quality to them, Bissill has paid careful attention in his shading and pencil work to capture both the façade of the church and the clean lines of its architecture. Given the architectural similarities and his sketch of the New Inn, evidencing his time spent in Willersey, it seems likely that this sketch depicts the Church of St Peter. A local landmark, this church was built in the 12th century, has a fifteenth century bell tower with traditional pinnacles and gargoyles and is now a grade I listed building.
Condition: Generally very good.
If you would like to know more, please email info@manningfineart.co.uk or call us on 07929 749056.