Art Deco 1930s Designs: Jean Mary Ogilvie (1920–1997)
This is one of a superb collection of original late 1930s Art Deco designs by Jean Mary Ogilvie (1920–1997). Jean Ogilvie was evidently an extremely talented draughtsman and designer. Her professional life is unknown and scant biographical details that are available revolve around the men in her life. She was the daughter of Charles Struthers White Ogilvie (1891–1936) of Delvine estate, Murthly, Perthshire. Charles was born in Malaysia and died prematurely aged forty-four in Ipoh, Perak. It appears that Jean then moved to her maternal family seat at Gidleigh Park, Chagford, Devon, where she was probably residing when she produced these drawings.
In 1949 she married Major Denys Lyonel Tollemache Oppé (1913–1992) who was educated at Winchester College and Trinity College, Cambridge. He gained the rank of Major in the Second World War and was appointed MBE in 1945. The couple had four children born in the 1950s.
The accomplishment of Jean Ogilvie's design work makes it hard to believe that she did not go on to have professional involvement in the arts. The challenges faced by women artists of the period no doubt explains the lack of recognition of her work.
Ogilvie's designs combine elements of Art Deco with a freer sense of whimsy. They incorporate neoclassical, oriental styling of early Art Deco, in motifs such as horse-drawn chariots, grape vines, carp fish and crane birds. At the same time, she brings her own individualism to her patterns: her horse motifs, flowers and fashion designs seem to speak of her interests and tastes as a young woman in Britain in the 1930s. Her colours are exuberant but always harmonious and considered, favouring pastel tones or the simplicity of primary colours.
Ogilvie's work is evocative of that of Sonia Delaunay (1885– 1979), an artist whose practice included textile, fashion, and set design. Delaunay was influenced by the Fauves in Paris and with her husband developed the colour theory of Orphism, incorporating bold colours and shapes into her designs. Delaunay's work in textiles and clothing in the 1920s and 1930s was profoundly innovative but was for a long time marginalised by an account of the history of art that has prioritised male artists and, at times, positioned her work as decorative.
Most of Ogilvie's designs incorporate more representational motifs but they are drawn with a spirit of abstraction. Her appreciation of rhythmic form, colour harmonies and a sense of flux places her work amid the innovations of European modern art in the early 20th century.
