Children Learning to use Gas Masks
Drawing
1939 - 1940 (made)
1939 - 1940 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Charles (Cyril) Mahoney (1903-1968) was a teacher at the Royal College of Art from 1928 to 1953. A member of the New English Art Club, he became Royal Academician in 1961. Most renowned as a draughtsman and muralist, his two surviving large scale works are at Brockley School and the Lady Chapel at Campion Hall, Oxford.
This drawing of children during a gas mask drill is dated 1939. It exists in at least three different iterations, one with other figures and buildings in the background. The grid lines over the sheet suggest that this was an early sketch that Mahoney copied onto other sheets or at a larger scale.
At this time, Mahoney was living in Wrotham, Kent, and the children in the sketch may have been local school children. Wrotham was not evacuated during the war; in fact, the village received children from South East London boroughs.
This drawing of children during a gas mask drill is dated 1939. It exists in at least three different iterations, one with other figures and buildings in the background. The grid lines over the sheet suggest that this was an early sketch that Mahoney copied onto other sheets or at a larger scale.
At this time, Mahoney was living in Wrotham, Kent, and the children in the sketch may have been local school children. Wrotham was not evacuated during the war; in fact, the village received children from South East London boroughs.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Titles |
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| Materials and techniques | Charcoal and pencil on paper |
| Brief description | 'Gas Masks', pencil drawing on paper by Charles Cyril Mahoney, showing schoolchildren during a gas mask drill, England, about 1939 |
| Physical description | Charcoal drawing on paper. Four children in the foreground are standing in pairs, adjusting each other's gas masks. Other children in the background are walking in an orderly line from a low building across a yard or playground. An adult, probably a woman, stands in the far corner overseeing proceedings. The scene is contained within an oval frame, and the drawing is divided by a pencil grid across the whole page, as used for scaling drawings. The style of the picture is linear and graphic, with strong outlines and broad hatching used for shading. |
| Dimensions |
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| Style | |
| Production type | Unique |
| Object history | Charles (Cyril) Mahoney (1903-1968) was a teacher at the Royal College of Art from 1928 to 1953. A member of the New English Art Club, he became Royal Academician in 1961. Most renowned as a draughtsman and muralist, his two surviving large scale works are at Brockley School and the Lady Chapel at Campion Hall, Oxford. This drawing of children during a gas mask drill is dated 1939. It exists in at least three different iterations, one with other figures and buildings in the background. The grid lines over the sheet suggest that this was an early sketch that Mahoney copied onto other sheets or at a larger scale. At this time, Mahoney was living in Wrotham, Kent, and the children in the sketch may have been local school children. Wrotham was not evacuated during the war; in fact, the village received children from South East London boroughs. |
| Summary | Charles (Cyril) Mahoney (1903-1968) was a teacher at the Royal College of Art from 1928 to 1953. A member of the New English Art Club, he became Royal Academician in 1961. Most renowned as a draughtsman and muralist, his two surviving large scale works are at Brockley School and the Lady Chapel at Campion Hall, Oxford. This drawing of children during a gas mask drill is dated 1939. It exists in at least three different iterations, one with other figures and buildings in the background. The grid lines over the sheet suggest that this was an early sketch that Mahoney copied onto other sheets or at a larger scale. At this time, Mahoney was living in Wrotham, Kent, and the children in the sketch may have been local school children. Wrotham was not evacuated during the war; in fact, the village received children from South East London boroughs. |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | B.116-2014 |
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| Record created | July 17, 2014 |
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