BLAMPIED, Edmund
Preparing Tea on the Farm (Jersey), 1942. Original ‘nonsense’ drawing in conté crayon, charcoal, and colored crayon on paper. Sheet size: 27.5 x 38.5 cm.
Description
Signed and dated by Blampied in the lower right image area ‘Blampied '42’, and further inscribed in his hand directly beneath: ‘nonsense drawing’. Titled by him in cursive to the lower left margin: ‘Preparing Tea on the Farm’.
Some localized foxing to sheet and outer margins, otherwise an excellent example from the Blampied’s wartime occupation period.
A characterized, satirical wartime drawing executed by Edmund Blampied in 1942 during the German military occupation of Jersey (1940–1945).
The scene is replete with the anthropomorphic and surreal details characteristic of Blampied's celebrated Nonsense style, which he introduced to the London art market during his solo exhibition, Blampied’s Nonsense Show at the Leicester Galleries in 1931.
Original drawings explicitly designated and signed by Blampied as a ‘nonsense drawing’ are uncommon, with examples held in the permanent collections of the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum. Due to the total isolation and material shortages imposed on the Channel Islands during the occupation, large scale original works on paper from this specific year are scarce. This drawing shows Blampied’s exploration of British graphic satire and social caricature during a period when his commercial printmaking capabilities were entirely halted by wartime conditions.
Framed and glazed; contemporary wooden frame with UV resistant art glass. Sheet, 47.3x37.5cm; external, 60.8x48.1cm.