Mock Moons 1942
10791
JOHN TUNNARD (1900-1971)
Mock Moons 1942
Watercolour on paper
Signed and dated 1942
Following his work for the Festival of Britain, John Tunnard became more involved with science, natural history and space exploration. Tunnard was fascinated by the concept of space travel, collecting items relating to this subject until near the end of his life. His works of the sixties, the new age of space travel, concern the universe and infinite space, and as Michel Canney, the curator of the Pasmore Edwards Gallery in Newlyn writes: the vast distances in John Tunnard's paintings seem to herald the space age. (1)
With subtle graduations of colour and extraordinary texture, Tunnard found his own formula for articulating dimensions other than our own. Mock Moons is not a literal painting of space but drawn from an inner poetic vision, although as Jasia Reichardt recognized in his 1961 review, he did not totally disregard the physical world; Tunnard's usual world is based on the firm foundations of research, experiment and painstaking work.(2)
Dr Anthony Michaelis recalls how throughout the 60s Tunnard continued to gather first-hand accounts of spacecraft launches in the Apollo series. He acquired a magazine pullout about the Apollo 4 launch and a large poster of the moon's surface taken from Lunar Orbiter 2 on the 24 November 1966, 28.4 miles above the lunar surface. In 1969, the year of man's first moon landing Tunnard was one of the firsts to respond in paint.
1. Alan Peat, Brian A Whitton and Peter Nahum, John Tunnard His Life and Work, Scolar Press, 1997, illustrated page145, catalogue number 618
2. Ibid. p.117
Length 54.30 cm., 21.38 in., Height 36.50 cm., 14.37 in.
In a silvered, reverse bevelled section frame
Frame Length 80 cm., 31 ½ in., Height 62 cm., 24 ½ in.,
20th Century
1942
British
Redfern Gallery, London; sold to Mrs S. J. Hankey, London, July 1942
A Peat & B Whitton, John Tunnard His Life and Work, Aldershot 1997, page 160, catalogue number 262
Commemorative
Mock Moons 1942Watercolour on paperSigned and dated 1942Following his work for the Festival of Britain, John Tunnard became more involved with science, natural history and space exploration. Tunnard was fascinated by the concept of space travel, collecting items relating to this subject until near the end of his life. His works of the sixties, the new age of space travel, concern the universe and infinite space, and as Michel Canney, the curator of the Pasmore Edwards Gallery in Newlyn writes: the vast distances in John Tunnard's paintings seem to herald the space age. (1)With subtle graduations of colour and extraordinary texture, Tunnard found his own formula for articulating dimensions other than our own. Mock Moons is not a literal painting of space but drawn from an inner poetic vision, although as Jasia Reichardt recognized in his 1961 review, he did not totally disregard the physical world; Tunnard's usual world is based on the firm foundations of research, experiment and painstaking work.(2)Dr Anthony Michaelis recalls how throughout the 60s Tunnard continued to gather first-hand accounts of spacecraft launches in the Apollo series. He acquired a magazine pullout about the Apollo 4 launch and a large poster of the moon's surface taken from Lunar Orbiter 2 on the 24 November 1966, 28.4 miles above the lunar surface. In 1969, the year of man's first moon landing Tunnard was one of the firsts to respond in paint.1. Alan Peat, Brian A Whitton and Peter Nahum, John Tunnard His Life and Work, Scolar Press, 1997, illustrated page145, catalogue number 6182. Ibid. p.117Length 54.30 cm., 21.38 in., Height 36.50 cm., 14.37 in.In a silvered, reverse bevelled section frameFrame Length 80 cm., 31 ½ in., Height 62 cm., 24 ½ in.,){kind=link}