This stylised and richly coloured painting of sunflowers in front of a window was painted by Elsie Barling and is part of a larger collection of her artwork held at Dorset Museum & Art Gallery.
Elsie Barling (1883 – 1976) was a teacher and painter born in Newham, Gloucestershire in 1883. Barling taught art to support her family and was described by her student and artist John Craxton as an inspired teacher; her enthusiasm led to an exhibition of school pupils’ work at the Bloomsbury Gallery in 1935.
Barling moved to Studland during the Second World War and taught art at Bryanston school from 1940 – 1943 where she was described as “encouraging each pupil where their talents lay.” She was a particularly strong draftsman and her work consisted of many different subjects including landscapes and scenes of people from her travels abroad to Brittany, Spain and the Alps as well as many scenes from Ireland, Wales, Cornwall and some from Kent where she lived.
Barling was particularly influenced by Frances Hodgkins and they became close friends after being introduced to each other. Hodgkins and Barling painted, travelled abroad and exhibited together in London. Although influenced Hodgkins’ work, Barling’s style was quite different; she was very dedicated to form and structure, influenced by the post war French fashion called “retour a l’ordre” or “return to order,” whereas Hodgkins’ style was very colourful and expressive.
Barling’s work was displayed in an exhibition at Dorset Museum in 1977 a year after she died in 1976 at the age of 93. The 60 artworks included in the exhibition were owned by David Brynley and Norman Notley who lent the entire collection from which the selection was made. Blue Pool, by Elsie Barling, 1950, with its distinctive bright turquoise is currently on display in Dorset Museum’s People’s Dorset gallery (2023).
This object was highlighted by the NHS S.T.A.R.T (Support, Transition and Recovery Team) group. They have been meeting in Dorset Museum & Art Gallery for over two years. The group use the quiet spaces of the museum, artefacts and artwork around them as inspiration for therapeutic group work and the sharing of techniques including embroidery and colouring. The group have been focussing on watercolour techniques recently and were particularly interested in choosing an object that incorporated this. After seeing many sketchbooks and paintings from various artists, the group chose the sunflowers by Elsie Barling.
“It’s just there big and bold.”
Another group member said, “I like the built-up layers of light and dark, it shows a lot and is almost like Vincent van Gogh’s sunflowers.”
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