- Sam Dodwell
Sam Dodwell RI (1909,
London – 1990) was an English painter.Life and work
Sam Dodwell discovered painting at an early age and at the age of 18, while visiting
Cornwall on holiday, decided that the county would be his future home. He was initially prevented from this ambition by family pressure and by the Depression, and took up a career in banking. He rose to the top of a US bank in London and also served throughWorld War II as an RAFSquadron Leader .In his late fifties, he suffered three major heart attacks. After then experimental open-heart surgery, predicted to give him four more years of life, he lived 23 years, during which he achieved his ambition. moving to Cornwall to take up a career as prolific painter.
He painted daily, his works inspired by regional subjects, in various media: oils, charcoal,
gouache or watercolour. His style was inspired byImpressionism , especially Cézanne, and laterCubism .During his career he exhibited at the
Royal Academy ,Royal Society of British Artists ,Royal Society of Portrait Painters and theRoyal Institute of Painters in Water Colours (of which he was an elected member). His commissions included large sunflower paintings for the Imperial Hotel,Torquay , and a mural for theAmerican Chamber of Commerce in London. He also taught at schools, art societies, studio groups, via television and also to Prince Charles.He was closely associated with the
Mid-Cornwall Galleries atSt Blazey Gate from their creation in 1980; he is commemorated at this venue by a Sam Dodwell Gallery. A major retrospective exhibition, including some 50 of his works, was staged there in February 2007.References
*Work of artist who taught Prince Charles, "Western Daily Press", Bristol, England, February 24, 2007
* [http://www.midcornwallgalleries.co.uk/profile.asp?artist=Sam%20Dodwell%20RI Sam Dodwell RI] , artist profile, MCG
* [http://www.artrabbit.com/events/event&event=1295?PHPSESSID=36eb4bcce86391ab10712578ff14093a Play it again, Sam!: A Retrospective of the paintings of Sam Dodwell R.I.]
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