Edward Bawden never tired of painting a horse. Everywhere you look in his work, they’re prancing and preening, their neat little hooves held aloft and their long horsey heads coyly tucked in like they’re waiting for a pat on the nose and a rosy red apple.
But it’s not just gee-gees the British artist returned to again and again. As shown in this solo show at the Dulwich Picture Gallery, Bawden (1903-1989) had many fave topics: the gorgeous greenery of the British landscape and famous London landmarks being just two.
Much of his work was created for commercial commissions. He designed everything from Christmas cards to menus, and you can still see his tiles prettifying the walls at Tottenham Hale and Victoria tube stations. As an exhibition, the DPG has done a good job. It’s arranged thematically, including sections on gardening and his work as an official war artist. They’ve even splashed out on some Bawden wallpaper (available for just £84 per roll online).
Your capacity to enjoy the exhibition largely rests on your own personal tweeness threshold. Apart from a few darker, slightly unsettling works (an image of a Canadian graveyard and his records of war damage abroad stand out), most of the paintings, lino cuts and drawings here are *deep breath* charming.
‘Charming’ in the way little pictures of smiley dodos, bowler-hatted Mr Benn-like figures and besuited white rabbits are. As illustrations for a poster they’re certainly a cut above the Deliveroo and hair loss ads we now see en route to work. But hang them on the walls of a gallery and it’s like being served a bowl of alphabetti spaghetti when what you really wanted were fat strips of tagliatelle dripping in blood-red arrabbiata.