Artist     Charles Cundall
Title      London Zoo, Elephant Walk
Date      1960's
object   Painting
Media   oil
Size      45.5 x 91.5cm
Ref         251

Purchased in the 110th RWA Annual Exhibition in 1962

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London Zoo, Elephant Walk
Charles Cundall was born in 1890 and was a painter, potter and stained glass artist, born in Stratford, Lancashire. After working as a designer for Pilkington’s Pottery Company under Gordon Forsyth, Cundall studied at Manchester School of Art, obtaining a scholarship to the Royal College of Art, 1912. After World War I army service he returned to the Royal College in 1918, then from 1919 to 1920 attended the Slade School of Art, and furthered his studies in Paris.

Cundall traveled widely in several continents and became noted for his panoramic pictures, such as Bank Holiday Brighton, in the Tate Gallery. He was a member of NEAC, RP, RWS and other bodies and was a prolific RA exhibitor. He had his first solo show at Colnaghi in 1927. He was an Official War Artist in World War II, during which time he was sent to Quebec (1944). In the same year he was elected RA. His wife was the artist Jacqueline Pietersen.

His technical facility - especially when working on large panoramic canvases - was remarkable. His pictures are rich with texture, light and movement. He was equally at ease with aerial views, landscapes, seascapes and cityscapes, and was a master of crowd scenes, including that iof his paintings of Test matches at his beloved Kennington Oval.

Charles Cundall died in 1971.

Further Reading:
The Modern School Visual Geographies ... New edition prepared by C. T. Quinn-Young, Leonard Bertram Cundall and Charles Theodore Quinn Young 1964 

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