Augustus Lunn

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Henry Augustus Lunn (always known as Augustus Lunn) (16 August 1905 – 1986) was a British artist and art teacher, best known for works with tempera and large mural paintings.

Early life[]

Lunn was born in Liverpool in 1905, the son of George Henry Lunn, a clergyman, and his wife Blanche Edith Maude (née Cane Spicer).[1]

Career[]

Lunn studied at Kingston School of Art, and then won a scholarship to the Royal College of Art, where he won the Edwin Abbey Mural Scholarship at the British School at Rome.[2][3] He joined the staff at Kingston, but also undertook private commissions.[4] He is regarded as one of the leading figures in the revival of tempera painting in Britain.[5] He exhibited in the New English Art Club and the Royal Academy.[6][7] In 1943 he applied to the War Artists' Advisory Committee to be a war artist, but was rejected.[8] There was a solo exhibition of his work in 1985, the year before his death, at the Michael Parkin Fine Art Gallery in London.[9]

Selected works[]

Lunn is barely represented in public art collections. Art UK lists just three works: Composition (1937) in the Jerwood Collection,[10] Fish (1940) in the Wolverhampton Art Gallery,[11] and Objects Observed on a Beach (1945) in the Government Art Collection.[12]

Many more works are held in private collections. Works sold at recent auctions have included Organic Elements (undated) sold by Bonhams in 2005,[13] Pavilion by the Sea, Lowestoft (undated) sold by Christie's in 2008[14] Gale Warning (1937) sold by Christie's in 2006,[15] Jacob's Dream (1944) sold by Christie's in 2010[16] Tower on a Hill in a Brooding Landscape (1947) sold by John Nicholsons in 2020;[17] Other works in private hands include Christ Expelling the Money Changers (undated, 1930s)[18] and House under Construction (1937).[19]

His sgraffito mural paintings are his best-known works.

Personal life[]

He married Alice Inez Dawson in 1932.[29] They had one daughter, Blanche (1933–1962). She married Richard Pemberton in 1961,[30] but died the following year.[31] Lunn died in 1986.[32]

References[]

  1. ^ Liverpool Registry Office, September 1905 quarter, Vol 8B, p 133.
  2. ^ "Art UK: Augustus Lunn". Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  3. ^ Taylor, Lyrica, "Augustus Lunn" in Still Small Voice: British Biblical Art in a Secular Age (1850-2014), (2015: The Wilson), pp 108-109, at p 109.
  4. ^ "Art UK: Augustus Lunn". Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  5. ^ "Artists Collecting Society: Augustus Lunn". Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  6. ^ "Moore Gwyn Fine Art: Augustus Lunn, House under Construction". Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  7. ^ Taylor, Lyrica, "Augustus Lunn" in Still Small Voice: British Biblical Art in a Secular Age (1850-2014), (2015: The Wilson), pp 108-109, at p 109.
  8. ^ "Foss, Brian Frederick, British Artists and the Second World War (1991: Thesis for University College, London), p 446" (PDF). Retrieved 15 February 2021.
  9. ^ "Artists Collecting Society: Augustus Lunn". Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  10. ^ "Art UK: Composition, by Augustus Lunn". Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  11. ^ "Fish, by Augustus Lunn". Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  12. ^ "Objects Observed on a Beach, by Augustus Lunn". Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  13. ^ "Augustus Lunn: Organic Elements". Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  14. ^ "Augustus Lunn: Pavilion by the Sea, Lowestoft". Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  15. ^ "Augustus Lunn: Gale Warning". Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  16. ^ "Augustus Lunn: Jacob's Dream". Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  17. ^ "Augustus Lunn: Tower on a Hill". Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  18. ^ "Richard Taylor Fine Art: Augustus Lunn, Christ Expelling the Money Changers". Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  19. ^ "Moore Gwyn Fine Art: Augustus Lunn, House under Construction". Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  20. ^ Taylor, Lyrica, "Augustus Lunn" in Still Small Voice: British Biblical Art in a Secular Age (1850-2014), (2015: The Wilson), pp 108-109, at p 109.
  21. ^ "National Heritage List Entry No 1298638". Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  22. ^ "National Heritage List Entry No 1391843". Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  23. ^ "Building Centre: Building's concrete secrets revealed, 5 October 2017". Retrieved 15 February 2021.
  24. ^ Taylor, Lyrica, "Augustus Lunn" in Still Small Voice: British Biblical Art in a Secular Age (1850-2014), (2015: The Wilson), pp 108-109, at p 109.
  25. ^ "St Alfege, Greenwich: Side chapels". Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  26. ^ "Church Times: "Sussex Benedicte on a Mural", 25 July 1958, p 1". Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  27. ^ "Church Times: "German gifts to new church at Battersea", 3 April 1959, p 1". Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  28. ^ "Survey of London: Churches and Chapels, p 42" (PDF). Retrieved 15 February 2021.
  29. ^ Deptford Registry Office, September 1932 quarter, Vol 1d, p 2054.
  30. ^ Surrey Northern Registry Office, March 1961 quarter, Vol 5G, p 669.
  31. ^ Tonbridge District Registry, December 1962 quarter, Vol 5b, p 1039.
  32. ^ Richmond upon Thames District Registry, June 1986 quarter, Vol 14, p 1614.
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