F. J. Mears
F. J. Mears | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1890  |
| Died | 1929 (aged 38–39) |
| Occupation | Painter, soldier (–1917), metalworker |
| Rank | gunner |
Gunner F. J. Mears (1890-1929) was a British soldier of World War I, and subsequently a successful artist, painting war scenes, before his early death.
Early life and military career
Mears was born in 1890.[1][2][3][4] Details of his life, including his full name, are scant.[5][6]
Originally a skilled metal worker,[7] he served during World War I with the rank of "gunner" in the Royal Garrison Artillery, as part of the British Expeditionary Force.[6] He saw action at the Somme and the Ypres Salient, [5][8] and was medically discharged in 1917,[6] after being subjected to a poison gas attack.[7]
Art
After the war, he was unfit for his previous work and living on a weekly disablement pension of 8s (equivalent to £26 in 2023).[7] With the encouragement of his wife, and despite having no formal art training,[7] he painted a number of scenes of battlefields at night, featuring silhouetted soldiers. He worked in pencil or ink and watercolour,[3] on paper, sometimes embellished with silver paint.[6]
He signed his work "Gnr FJ Mears BEF",[5] or "Gnr FJ Mears RGA BEF",[9] but always wrote this upside down, explaining: "The whole of the World is upside down... Why then should my signature only be the right way up?".[5][10]
He described one of his early works as:[7]
a picture of a shattered, splintered trees crying aloud ... against the horrors of it all, of dark sinister pools of mud, of a troubled sky, and of insignificant little crouching figures running across a shell-swept road
That picture was advertised for sale in the window of a shop on Piccadilly and was bought by Dame Katharine Furse,[7] who had led the British Red Cross' Voluntary Aid Detachment force during the war. It was said that income from the sale rescued Mears and his wife from poverty and destitution—it was reported in the press that, before this, "one day they shared a kipper, another day they had a few potatoes".[7]
In May 1920 an exhibition of his work, at the George C. Clackner Gallery at 20, Old Bond Street, London, included 30 paintings.[5] Their buyers included Lieutenant General Hubert Gough, who had commanded the British Fifth Army from 1916 to 1918, Major-General John Ponsonby (Gough's successor), the American actress and singer Elsie Janis, John Wodehouse, 3rd Earl of Kimberley, Gwendolen Fitzalan-Howard, Duchess of Norfolk, and Nancy, Lady Astor.[5][7] A review in The Daily News of 7 May 1920 was headlined:[1][10]
Art genius who paints in a garret. Lowly man's pictures bought by aristocracy. Dukes as customers.
His address was given in May 1920 as 13, Windmill Street, Tottenham Court Road, London,[7][11] where he and his wife occupied "a room about 9ft by 6ft" with no bed, because they could not afford to buy one.[7] Another address, written on the reverse of some of his works, was given as "Fern Villa, Markenfield Road, Guildford, Surrey".[9][12]
Mears died in 1929, at the age of 38 or 39,[5] due to the effects of the gas he had inhaled during the war.[2]
Legacy
Mears' works are in public collections, including several at the Imperial War Museums,[1] and eight in the World War History & Art Museum (formerly of Alliance, Ohio and now a touring collection).[1][13]
A number of his paintings were included in the Brushes with War: Art From The Front Line exhibition at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum.[6][14][15]
References
- ^ a b c d "'Gunner' F. J. Mears (1890 - 1929)". Stephen Ongpin Fine Art. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
- ^ a b "Gunner F J Mears (1890 - 1929)". Babbington Fine Art. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
- ^ a b "The List". Abbott and Holder Ltd. January 2020. Archived from the original on 8 January 2020.
- ^ Other sources say "circa 1890".
- ^ a b c d e f g "Gunner F. J. Mears, Royal Garrison Artillery". David Cohen Fine Art. Archived from the original on 27 November 2003.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ a b c d e "Gunner F J Mears, First World War battle scene, original watercolour (Flying onions, looking towards Messines ridge)". Nicholas Holloway Fine Art. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Art in a Garret". Nottingham Journal. 7 May 1920.
- ^ "Focus on: Gunner F J Mears". Western Daily Press. 1 August 2009. p. 21. ProQuest 334949273.
- ^ a b "Gunner F J Mears, First World War battle scene, original watercolour (The midst of battle)". Nicholas Holloway Fine Art.
- ^ a b "Art Genius who Paints in a Garret...". The Daily News. 7 May 1920.
- ^ 13 Windmill Street: 51°31′08″N 0°08′01″W / 51.518767°N 0.133712°W
- ^ Fern Villa: 51°14′35″N 0°34′22″W / 51.242982°N 0.572667°W; extant in 2020
- ^ "Brushes with War Exhibit at WWHAM - World War History & Art Museum". World War History & Art Museum. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
- ^ "Brushes with War: Art From The Front Line". The People's Friend . 9 October 2018. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
- ^ Massie, Claudia (22 September 2018). "Authenticity over artistry: Brushes with War reviewed". The Spectator. Retrieved 16 January 2020.