The Aviary, Dropmore, Bucks

Location

Country: UK
City: London
Place: Government Art Collection

A red aviary rises to a backdrop of white clouds and a blue sky, containing a number of birds sitting still or in flight. Barbara Jones’ lithograph depicts the aviary that extends from the Gardener’s House on the grounds of Dropmore House, close to Beaconsfield in Buckinghamshire. Lord Grenville, Prime Minister to George III, bought the land in 1792. Listed Grade I, the Aviary is a cast-iron cage, with ceramic tiles imported from China around the base, these also forming the uprights and frieze. It has three projections with cupolas, the central of which is higher than the other two. The Aviary’s architect and date of construction are unrecorded, but it features in a sketch by John Buckler dated 1830.
This lithograph was produced as an edition of Jones’ illustration for her book Follies and Grottoes (Constable and Co, 1953). The author of numerous illustrated books, Jones is particularly known for The Unsophisticated Arts (1951). This was the outcome of a decade spent documenting everyday art throughout Britain, visiting fairgrounds, tattoo parlours, taxidermists, high street shops, seaside piers and amusement arcades. Her ground-breaking achievement coalesced in the exhibition Black Eyes and Lemonade held at the Whitechapel Gallery in 1951. Trained as a mural painter, a number of Jones’ large-scale works were commissions, notably, for the Britain Can Make It exhibition at the V&A (1947); for the interior of ocean liners like the S.S. Orsova (1953); the International Labour Office exhibition in Turin (1961); and the Philips Research Laboratory in Eindhoven (1966).

Born in Croydon, Barbara Jones was a prolific artist who produced painting, printmaking, book illustration and mural designs. A student of the Royal College of Art, London (1933-37) she was influenced especially by the linear styles of Edward Bawden and Eric Ravilious. She was one of the first artists commissioned by The Pilgrim Trust to depict historic buildings under threat from war damage, for the ‘Recording Britain’ project in the 1940s. In 1951 she published The Unsophisticated Arts, which featured British vernacular art forms such as fairgrounds, tattooing and canal boats. This book is now a popular collector’s item. Cited by the artist, Peter Blake as a major forerunner of 1960s British Pop Art, Jones never gained the wider recognition that she deserved, although she held several important positions including Associate of the Royal Academy, and Governorship of Central School of Arts from 1956-1964.

Places

England, Buckinghamshire

Subjects

topography, bird, aviary

Materials & Techniques

lithograph

Artist

Barbara Mildred Jones (1912 - 1978)

Title

The Aviary, Dropmore, Bucks

Portfolio Title

Follies

Edition

20/70

Date

1971

Medium

Lithograph

Acquisition

Purchased from Editions Alecto, March 1972

Inscription

below image: 20/70 / Dropmore Aviary / Barbara Jones

GAC number

9586