Edward Bawden: Main Events

Photograph of portrait of Bawden by Phyllis Dodd (Portrait in oils painted 1926)

Photograph of Edward Bawden by Howard Coster for Vogue

Edward Bawden in Uniform (taken by the village photographer)

Bawden with prints of his calendar for 1964, designed for Associated Electrical Industries

1903 Born at Braintree, Essex on 10th March.

1919-1921 Cambridge School of Art.

1922 Won scholarship to the Royal College of Art.

1922-1925 Royal College of Art: School of Design. Took diploma in book illustration.
Tutors included Paul Nash, Edward Johnston, Harold Stabler and Professor E.W. Tristram.
Met Eric Ravilious.
Employed at the Curwen Press by Harold Curwen.

1924-1925 Designed posters for London Transport.

1925 Awarded travelling scholarship and visited Italy.

1925 onwards Commissions from the Curwen Press.
Began freelance work as a commercial artist for Twining's Teas, Fortnum & Mason, Poole Potteries, Westminster Bank and Shell-Mex.
Wallpaper designs.
Rented Brick House, Great Bardfield, Essex with Eric Ravilious for holidays and weekends.

1926-1929 Wallpapers for the Curwen Press.

1927-1929 Series of copper line engravings.

1927 Exhibition of six copper line engravings at St George's Gallery, London. Work by Eric Ravilious and Douglas Percy Bliss also exhibited.

1928 Given first major commission by Sir Joseph Duveen to create a mural for the Refectory at Morley College, London with Eric Ravilious and Charles Mahoney, at the rate of £1 per day. Official opening by Stanley Baldwin in 1930.

1928-1931 Taught design and book illustration at Goldsmith's College.
Worked on Shell-Mex advertisements.
Book jackets for the Curwen Press.
Advertising designs for London Transport Underground.

1930 Illustrated Adam and Eve at Kew or the Revolt in the Garden by Robert Herring.

1930-1963 Taught at the Royal College of Art during this period (apart from the Second World War years).

1932 Married Charlotte Epton, a potter.
Brick House bought for Edward Bawden as a wedding present by his father. Eric and Tirzah Ravilious shared the house with the Bawdens.
Illustrations for Ambrose Heath's Good Food.
Worked on the You can be sure of Shell campaign for Shell-Mex: a series of advertisements with a play on English place-names.

1932-1938 Advertising work for Fortnum & Mason.

1933 Eric Ravilious and his wife Tirzah moved from Brick House to Castle Headingham.
First major exhibition, of watercolours of Essex landscapes, at the Zwemmer Gallery, London.

1934 Designs for the Pavilion Hotel in Scarborough.

1936 London Transport Underground posters of Kew Gardens and Hyde Park.

1938 Exhibition at the Leicester Galleries, London.

1938-1939 Bardfield wallpapers designed and sold by Edward Bawden and John Aldridge.

1940-1944 Appointed official war artist with the British Expeditionary Force in France (Dunkirk). Later posted to the Middle East (Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Syria) and North Africa (Egypt, Ethiopia, Libya and Sudan).

1946 Awarded CBE (Commander of the British Empire).

1947 Associate of the Royal Academy.
Commissioned by Puffin to illustrate The Arabs by R.B. Serjeant.
Experimental ceramic designs for Wedgwood.
Hue and Cry poster for Ealing Studios commissioned by Michael Balcon.

1949 Designs for the Orient Line.
Exhibition at Leicester Galleries, London.
Appointed Royal Designer for Industry (RSA).
Line-drawn illustrations and lithographs for Life in an English Village with introduction by Noel Carrington.

1949 and 1950 Appointed guest instructor for the Summers of 1949 and 1950 at the Banff School of Fine Art, Banff, Alberta, Canada.

1950-1951 Commissioned to design a mural for the Lion and Unicorn Pavilion, South Bank, London for the Festival of Britain celebration.

1951 Exhibition of watercolours of the Canadian Rockies at the Leicester Galleries, London.
Appointed Trustee of the Tate Gallery (1951-1958).

1952 Transfer print designs on white bone-china for the Orient Line.
Poster and advertising material for the film The Titfield Thunderbolt for Ealing Studios.
Visited Sicily.
Murals for the Orient Line ships Orcades and Oronsay.
Designed beer bottle labels for Peter Walker.

1953-1954 Illustrations for The Queen's Beasts by Sir George Bellew (The Garter Principal King of Arms).
Designs for the Royal Hotel in Scarborough.

1953-1959 Series of linocuts of Brighton.

1956 Designed garden seat for the Bilston Iron Foundry.
Elected Royal Academician.
Designed Fortnum & Mason catalogue.

1957-1958 Mural for the entrance hall to the Morgan Crucible Co., Battersea Works.

1958 Mural for Brussels Exhibition.
Second mural for Morley College, depicting scenes from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales to replace the original (see above 1928) destroyed in 1941 during the Second World War.
Fortnum & Mason catalogue.

1962 Appointed Honorary Associate of Manchester College of Art.

1963 Appointed Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Art.
Mural for Physics Building University of Hull.
Exhibition at the Zwemmer Gallery, London -watercolours and drawings.
Illustrations and text for a children's book Hold Fast by Your Teeth.

1964 Awarded Silver Medal by the Society of Industrial Artists.

1965 Mural for Pilkington Brothers' boardroom.
Mural for the Microbiology Block at Queen's University Belfast.

1965-1966 London Monuments prints. Nine prints published by Editions Alecto.

1966 Visited Persia/Iran.
Commissioned to design mural for British Petroleum at Britannic House.
Mural for the British Pavilion, Expo '66 in Montreal.

1967 Six London Markets prints for Curwen Press.

1968 Tile Designs for London Transport's Victoria Line.
Exhibition at the Fine Art Society, London.
Tutor at the Royal Academy Schools and Senior Lecturer at Leicester College of Art and Design.

1970 Received Honorary Doctorate from the Royal College of Art.
Charlotte Bawden Died.
Moved from Great Bardfield to Saffron Walden.

1971 Mural for Carr's Lane Congregational Chapel, Birmingham.

1973 Mural for Blackwell's Bookshop, Oxford.
Exhibition at The Minories, Colchester.

1974 Received Honorary Doctorate from Essex University.

1977 Designed Bunyan's Dream tapestry. Created in Bedford by members of the Bedfordshire Music and Arts Club and on permanent display at the Cecil Higgins Art Gallery, Bedford.
Awarded the Leipzig International Book Exhibition Gold Medal for Utopia published by the Folio Society.

1978 75th Birthday exhibition at the Fine Art Society, London.

1979 Made Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers.
Published Lady Filmy Fern ( begun in 1935).

1986 Leaves contents of his studio to the Cecil Higgins Art Gallery, Bedford.

1987 Illustrations for The Hound of the Baskervilles published by the Folio Society.

1988 85th birthday exhibition at the V&A, London

1989 21st November 1989 death of Edward Bawden in Saffron Walden.

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		1903	Born at Braintree, Essex on 10th March.
		1919-1921	Cambridge School of Art.
		1922	Won scholarship to the Royal College of Art.
		1922-1925	Royal College of Art: School of Design. Took diploma in book illustration. Tutors included Paul Nash, Edward Johnston, Harold Stabler and Professor E.W. Tristram. Met Eric Ravilious. Employed at the Curwen Press by Harold Curwen.
		1924-1925	Designed posters for London Transport.
		1925	Awarded travelling scholarship and visited Italy.
		1925 onwards	Commissions from the Curwen Press. Began freelance work as a commercial artist for Twining's Teas, Fortnum & Mason, Poole Potteries, Westminster Bank and Shell-Mex. Wallpaper designs. Rented Brick House, Great Bardfield, Essex with Eric Ravilious for holidays and weekends.
		1926-1929	Wallpapers for the Curwen Press.
		1927-1929	Series of copper line engravings.
		1927	Exhibition of six copper line engravings at St George's Gallery, London. Work by Eric Ravilious and Douglas Percy Bliss also exhibited.
		1928	Given first major commission by Sir Joseph Duveen to create a mural for the Refectory at Morley College, London with Eric Ravilious and Charles Mahoney, at the rate of £1 per day. Official opening by Stanley Baldwin in 1930.
		1928-1931	Taught design and book illustration at Goldsmith's College. Worked on Shell-Mex advertisements. Book jackets for the Curwen Press. Advertising designs for London Transport Underground.
		1930	*Illustrated Adam and Eve at Kew or the Revolt in the Garden* by Robert Herring.**
		1930-1963	Taught at the Royal College of Art during this period (apart from the Second World War years).
		1932	Married Charlotte Epton, a potter. Brick House bought for Edward Bawden as a wedding present by his father. Eric and Tirzah Ravilious shared the house with the Bawdens. Illustrations for Ambrose Heath's Good Food. Worked on the You can be sure of Shell campaign for Shell-Mex: a series of advertisements with a play on English place-names.
		1932-1938	Advertising work for Fortnum & Mason.
		1933	Eric Ravilious and his wife Tirzah moved from Brick House to Castle Headingham. First major exhibition, of watercolours of Essex landscapes, at the Zwemmer Gallery, London.
		1934	Designs for the Pavilion Hotel in Scarborough.
		1936	London Transport Underground posters of Kew Gardens and Hyde Park.
		1938	Exhibition at the Leicester Galleries, London.
		1938-1939	Bardfield wallpapers designed and sold by Edward Bawden and John Aldridge.
		1940-1944	Appointed official war artist with the British Expeditionary Force in France (Dunkirk). Later posted to the Middle East (Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Syria) and North Africa (Egypt, Ethiopia, Libya and Sudan).
		1946	Awarded CBE (Commander of the British Empire).
		1947	Associate of the Royal Academy. Commissioned by Puffin to illustrate The Arabs by R.B. Serjeant. Experimental ceramic designs for Wedgwood. Hue and Cry poster for Ealing Studios commissioned by Michael Balcon.
		1949	Designs for the Orient Line. Exhibition at Leicester Galleries, London. Appointed Royal Designer for Industry (RSA). Line-drawn illustrations and lithographs for Life in an English Village with introduction by Noel Carrington.
		1949 and 1950	Appointed guest instructor for the Summers of 1949 and 1950 at the Banff School of Fine Art, Banff, Alberta, Canada.
		1950-1951	Commissioned to design a mural for the Lion and Unicorn Pavilion, South Bank, London for the Festival of Britain celebration.
		1951	Exhibition of watercolours of the Canadian Rockies at the Leicester Galleries, London. Appointed Trustee of the Tate Gallery (1951-1958).
		1952	Transfer print designs on white bone-china for the Orient Line. Poster and advertising material for the film The Titfield Thunderbolt for Ealing Studios. Visited Sicily. Murals for the Orient Line ships Orcades and Oronsay. Designed beer bottle labels for Peter Walker.
		1953-1954	Illustrations for The Queen's Beasts by Sir George Bellew (The Garter Principal King of Arms). Designs for the Royal Hotel in Scarborough.
		1953-1959	Series of linocuts of Brighton.
		1956	Designed garden seat for the Bilston Iron Foundry. Elected Royal Academician. Designed Fortnum & Mason catalogue.
		1957-1958	Mural for the entrance hall to the Morgan Crucible Co., Battersea Works.
		1958	Mural for Brussels Exhibition. Second mural for Morley College, depicting scenes from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales to replace the original (see above 1928) destroyed in 1941 during the Second World War. Fortnum & Mason catalogue.
		1962	Appointed Honorary Associate of Manchester College of Art.
		1963	Appointed Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Art. Mural for Physics Building University of Hull. Exhibition at the Zwemmer Gallery, London -watercolours and drawings. Illustrations and text for a children's book Hold Fast by Your Teeth.
		1964	Awarded Silver Medal by the Society of Industrial Artists.
		1965	Mural for Pilkington Brothers' boardroom. Mural for the Microbiology Block at Queen's University Belfast.
		1965-1966	London Monuments prints. Nine prints published by Editions Alecto.
		1966	Visited Persia/Iran. Commissioned to design mural for British Petroleum at Britannic House. Mural for the British Pavilion, Expo '66 in Montreal.
		1967	*Six London Markets* prints for Curwen Press.**
		1968	Tile Designs for London Transport's Victoria Line. Exhibition at the Fine Art Society, London. Tutor at the Royal Academy Schools and Senior Lecturer at Leicester College of Art and Design.
		1970	Received Honorary Doctorate from the Royal College of Art. Charlotte Bawden Died. Moved from Great Bardfield to Saffron Walden.
		1971	Mural for Carr's Lane Congregational Chapel, Birmingham.
		1973	Mural for Blackwell's Bookshop, Oxford. Exhibition at The Minories, Colchester.
		1974	Received Honorary Doctorate from Essex University.
		1977	Designed Bunyan's Dream tapestry. Created in Bedford by members of the Bedfordshire Music and Arts Club and on permanent display at the Cecil Higgins Art Gallery, Bedford. Awarded the Leipzig International Book Exhibition Gold Medal for Utopia published by the Folio Society.
		1978	75th Birthday exhibition at the Fine Art Society, London.
		1979	Made Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers. Published Lady Filmy Fern ( begun in 1935).
		1986	Leaves contents of his studio to the Cecil Higgins Art Gallery, Bedford.
		1987	*Illustrations for The Hound of the Baskervilles* published by the Folio Society.**
		1988	85th birthday exhibition at the V&A, London
		1989	21st November 1989 death of Edward Bawden in Saffron Walden.