Ivy T. Attwell Watching the World Go by, Africa

Ivy T. Attwell (1895–1985)

This picture forms part of a vibrant collection of works that we have for sale by Ivy T. Attwell (1895–1985). Attwell evidently had artistic talent in the blood, as she was a relative of the celebrated children's illustrator Mabel Lucie Attwell (1879–1964). Attwell's husband was reportedly in the merchant navy and with him she travelled across the globe.

In the 1930s her work is British realist in style, with figurative subjects from modern life, influenced by the art deco travel poster aesthetic of the period. By the 1950s this has evolved to something more fluid, with jostling figures, saturated colour and snapshot vantage points.

The paintings in this collection document the far flung destinations to which she travelled, capturing the colour and everyday detail that she encountered. Her distinctive compositions fill the picture plane with sweeping coastal bay or elevated veranda, which give a sense of panorama and unfolding human activity—of which the viewer is both a part and an observer.

Attwell's known works include views in Algeria, Turkey, Egypt and Lebanon, Colombia, Canada, the Seychelles, Thailand, Japan, Australia and New Zealand; France, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Spain, Sicily, Croatia and Greece; and Wales, Ireland and her native Devon.

Ivy T. Attwell served as chair of the Devon Art Society for twenty-seven years. The National Trust hold one of her paintings at Greenway in Devon, which was holiday home to Agatha Christie and her family's varied collections, with a 1950s interior.