NORMAN THELWELL is undeniably best known for his cartoons of fat hairy ponies and their fearless young mounts. Yet to look past these instantly recognisable characters is to discover a Hogarth of the countryside, who left no aspect of British rural life untouched.
Born in Birkenhead, Merseyside, in 1923, the young Thelwell nurtured an innate fascination with the great outdoors from an early age, aided by family holidays to a farm in North Wales. Even as a child, he noted in his autobiography Wrestling with a Pencil (1986), he had ‘an irresistible compulsion to draw almost everything’ he saw.
During the Second World War, an 18-year old Thelwell joined the East Yorkshire Regiment in 1941. He began training near Hursley House in Hampshire, before being posted to India. Despite hating almost everything about the army, he later demonstrated a curious nostalgia for that golden, but dark time in his youth, returning to Hampshire to live with his family mere miles from where he remembered jumping into the river on an army exercise. This homecoming echoes the sense of place and memory his art evokes— for many, to look upon a Thelwell illustration is to see the countryside of one’s own youth.
It was in this countryside around Romsey and Winchester that some of the artist’s most sensitive and exquisite watercolours were painted. Those that knew him understand that he was never happier than when alone in the woods and fields, brush in hand. His deep-seated love for the land and the eclecticism of life it supports bleeds into his landscapes and is preserved there.
Denne historien er fra March 10, 2021-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra March 10, 2021-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Kitchen garden cook - Apples
'Sweet and crisp, apples are the epitome of autumn flavour'
The original Mr Rochester
Three classic houses in North Yorkshire have come to the market; the owner of one inspired Charlotte Brontë to write Jane Eyre
Get it write
Desks, once akin to instruments of torture for scribes, have become cherished repositories of memories and secrets. Matthew Dennison charts their evolution
'Sloes hath ben my food'
A possible paint for the Picts and a definite culprit in tea fraud, the cheek-suckingly sour sloe's spiritual home is indisputably in gin, says John Wright
Souvenirs of greatness
FOR many years, some large boxes have been stored and forgotten in the dark recesses of the garage. Unpacked last week, the contents turned out to be pots: some, perhaps, nearing a century old—dense terracotta, of interesting provenance.
Plants for plants' sake
The garden at Hergest Croft, Herefordshire The home of Edward Banks The Banks family is synonymous with an extraordinary collection of trees and shrubs, many of which are presents from distinguished friends, garnered over two centuries. Be prepared to be amazed, says Charles Quest-Ritson
Capturing the castle
Seventy years after Christian Dior’s last fashion show in Scotland, the brand returned under creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri for a celebratory event honouring local craftsmanship, the beauty of the land and the Auld Alliance, explains Kim Parker
Nature's own cathedral
Our tallest native tree 'most lovely of all', the stately beech creates a shaded environment that few plants can survive. John Lewis-Stempel ventures into the enchanted woods
All that money could buy
A new book explores the lost riches of London's grand houses. Its author, Steven Brindle, looks at the residences of plutocrats built by the nouveaux riches of the late-Victorian and Edwardian ages
In with the old
Diamonds are meant to sparkle in candlelight, but many now gather dust in jewellery boxes. To wear them today, we may need to reimagine them, as Hetty Lintell discovers with her grandmother's jewellery
