Mary Fedden b. 1915

Painter of still life, flowers and animals in oils, watercolours, gouache and collages; muralist. She studied at the Slade School under Schwabe 1932-6, and has exhibited at the RWA, with the LG (becoming a member between 1962 and 1964) and with the WIAC. She has also shown at major London art galleries including the Redfern Gallery 1953-67, the Hamet Gallery 1970-3, and the New Grafton Gallery from 1975. Her work has appeared in many provinces, in group exhibitions and in many public collections including the Tate Gallery. Between 1958 and 1964 she taught at the RCA and from 1965 to 1970 at the Yehudi Menuhin School. She was chairman of the WIAC 1956-8 and in 1984 was elected President of the RWA. Her mural commissions include work for the Festival of Britian, 1951, the P&O Liner Canberra, 1961, and work for Charing Cross Hospital, 1980, in collaboration with her husband Julian Trevelyan. Her work has strongly painted, simplified forms presented with an innocence of vision. Often still-life elements are set against windows or other framing devices and combined with landscape. All her subjects are executed in an expressive technique and a sophisticated range of clear colours applied in bold areas. LIT: See Fedden's two articles about her work in the Artist (UK), Vol. 99, Oct and Nov 1984; article in The Green Book, vol.3, no. 4, 1990; Mary Fedden, Mel Gooding, Scolar Press, 1995.

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