John Tunnard

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John Tunnard (May 7, 1900 - December 18, 1971), was a British artist and designer. He was born in Bedfordshire, England, and is best known for his paintings of strange private worlds, which are instantly recognisable. Ever enthusiastic to experiment and be at the cutting edge of the Avant Garde, Tunnard consciously developed his work in the style of British Surrealism as it emerged after the second world war. A use of biomorphic forms and architectural elements combine with elements of constructivism, reflecting his interest in the technology of space travel. Many of the paintings are of fantastic constructions in deep space, and demonstrate a preoccupation with entomology and geology. Tunnards work commonly depicts the detailed design that is found abundant within nature itself.

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[edit] Context

When placing Tunnard's work in context, it is important to consider the proliferation of ecology based fiction, art and discussion that was beginning to appear in the late 1950s and early 1960s. In 1951 the writer John Wyndham, spurred on by reported scientific practice at this time published his famous novel Day of The Triffids. Public attention had reverted unfavourably from scientific experiments carried out on plants in 1940s America. Science had formerly been held in high regard as champion of the brave new world. In 1962, amid growing public awareness, Rachel Carson's literary augur of environmental catastrophe Silent Spring was published. The book summarized her main argument, that the 'control of nature' is a phrase conceived in arrogance, born of a flawed understanding of biology and philosophy, when it was supposed that nature exists for the convenience of man.

[edit] Theme

Tunnard's themes, in part, owe much to the discussion that was being generated in this burgeoning ecological angst; He identified more strongly with modernism and his work is more detached, observational; and less community spirited than his literary contemporaries. In his Self Portrait (now in the National Gallery, London) the artist depicts himself alongside an oversized insect. The meanings in Tunnard's paintings are unclear; this may go some way to explaining the reason why Tunnard has been unfavourably confined to the shady corners of art history. Artists are expected to make clear the contents and objectives of their work; and Tunnards objectives have never perhaps been fully understood, except in the context of his enthusiasm for his subjects. He is also understood in his eagerness to present a thoroughly modern context for his subjects. His paintings may be seen as a clumsy meandering of ideas. Interest in his work had diminished after his death in 1971; and his name declined into obscurity after, although there has been a re-examining of his work,with a revival of interest following the centenary exhibition at Durham University in 2000. His art was, for a while less sought after than his contemporary Ivon Hitchens, who was also born in Berkshire, seven years before Tunnard. The work of both artists refers to natural resources; they painted the textures of stone, water, and earth, much like the work of the St.Ives Artists in general.

[edit] Categorization

Other British modern artists in this category include sculptor Dame Barbara Hepworth who was concerned with form and texture. Although unlike Hepworth, Tunnard and painter Graham Sutherland are better remembered as belonging to the group loosely termed British Neo-romanticism. Sutherland was primarily concerned with portraying the dark underside of nature. His paintings of war-torn Britain rendered the angular forms of ruined buildings. The Neo-romatics continued the tradition of British landscape; processing it through a modern sensibility, but their version excluded reference to those aspects of the 1900s that characterise its separateness from previous times such as the technology that interested Tunnard; the electrically powered machines that had been explored near the beginning of the 20th century by a group of artists with a particularly Italian brand of Modernism known as Futurism. They explored the machine age. They liked speed and authored a manifesto which advocated that all remnants of the past be destroyed. They were interested in all that was new, fast, and modern. The Neo-romatics rejected this, as their subjects were depicted with an unreal unnatural appearance, preferring design and decoration with a warm expressive voice.

Tunnard put the machine age back into landscape in a blurred, romatic montage. Despite a firm root in tradition, Tunnard's paintings have a bleak and sometimes sinister quality. The repeated use of colours such as blues, browns, and greys has an unsettling effect on the eye; the inhuman scale of his forms and architectonic structures further evoke this feeling of remoteness in his paintings. Ivon Hitchens's work typically uses a warm palette of reds, browns, greens, and yellows; his work appears only to express ideas about the landscape; this may go some way to account for Hitchen's greater popularity. Tunnard did not adhere entirely to the Earth and nature as a theme; his work was possibly the first amongst the modernists to depict satellites and moonscapes in painting.

[edit] Technique

The technique that Tunnard used evolved from his youthful employ as a commercial designer. He wanted to command a full understanding of all the essential qualities of painting; form, colour, texture etc. Compositions were always meticulously executed. He carefully rendered shapes applying clear, precise edges; indeed, with scientific precision; he often used a compass and a ruler. The artist was at first quietly naive about modern art techniques; he once asked a colleague whether it was acceptable for him to use his compass and ruler. Would he foresake his authenticity as an artist? His choice of materials was sometimes unusual; gouache or oil on a gesso base were his favoured materials, but he often used a range of media for a single work. For example; in many of his paintings tempera and oil paint were combined on the picture surfaces. He also worked with oil on glass supports during a period just after the second world war, at a time when he was highly productive. Most oils were painted on gesso. Some oils were painted on his choice of fibre or composite board. This being an ill-advised choice for professional artists in general. He may not have known that collectors are as fussy about the quality of the support as they are fussy about the quality of the painting. His vision was a unique one which transcended a documentary representation of the world.

John Tunnard is the cousin of landscape architect Christopher Tunnard.

[edit] Timeline

  • 1900 - Born Bedfordshire
  • 1919-1923 - Studied design at the Royal College of Art
  • 1923-1929 - Worked as a textile designer - taught design at the Central School of Art and Crafts
  • 1930 - Moved to Cornwall and established a printed silk business
  • 1945 - Taught art at Wellington College
  • 1948-1964 - Taught design at Penzance School of Art
  • 1951 - Designed mural for the Festival of Britain
  • 1971 - Died Cornwall

[edit] Further reading

  • John Tunnard: His Life and Work by Alan Peat and Brian A. Whitton

[edit] External links

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