
Dorothy Mahoney (1902-1984):
Walled Garden Amongst Kentish Orchards, early 1950's
Framed (ref: 2640)
mixed media on vellum,
7 1/2 x 5 1/2 in. (19 x 14 cm)
See all works by Dorothy Mahoney ink watercolour design flowers TOP 100 1.Master Designs Garden Museum RCAGardenMusuem WOMEN A Hanging Garden World War One and its Aftermath
Provenance: The Artist's Family
Dorothy Mahoney (ne Bishop) entered the RCA School of Design in 1924
with Book Illustration as her principal subject. From 1926-28 she took
lettering and illumination as her principal subject under Edward
Johnston, to whom, during this period, she became student-assistant.
Her subsidiary subjects were wood engraving, pottery, bookbinding and
embroidery. It is likely that this rare un- numbered wood engraving
dates to this period.
In 1929 she was appointed Deputy Assistant to Edward Johnston, giving lectures, demonstrations, and classes in his absence.
In
1940 when the RCA was evacuated to Ambleside in the Lake District she
became better acquainted with fellow teacher Charles Mahoney whom she
married the following year.
Both had in common an unbridled
enthusiasm for plants - a passion which before the war Mahoney had
shared with Edward Bawden, Geoffrey Rhoades, John Nash and Evelyn
Dunbar, the latter with whom he published Gardener's Choice in 1937.
The correspondence between this circle is full of exchanges about the
discovery, nurturing and drawing of new potential subjects facilitated
by sending to each otherplant cuttings sent by post.
Oak Cottage,
in Wrotham Kent, where Dorothy and Charles lived after the war and for
the rest of their lives, was a source of immense inspiration for both
artists. Once the garden that they planted had matured Charles
especially rarely went elsewhere for inspiration.
This
design shows a walled garden amongst Kentish orchards such as those
around her home in Wrotham. This piece may have been inteneded as the
frontispiece for a book to be written in collaboration with her husband
Charles Mahoney. Her skill in illumination and penmanship is shown in
the precise delineation of the tulip petals.
A small selection of her work is on display at The British Museum.
Elizabeth Bulkeley, the artist's daughter, ( note to Paul Liss December 2010).
Exhibited: Sanctuary, Artist-Gardeners, 1919-39, Garden Museum, London, 25th February – 5 April, 2020
Literature: Christopher Woodward, Sanctuary: Artist-Gardeners, 1919–1939, published by Liss Llewellyn, 2020