The career of Frederick Halford Coventry (1905-1997) epitomises the concept of art in industry, and industry in art. A muralist, painter, printmaker, glass artist, poster designer and book-illustrator, he attracted recognition in the fine and commercial art sectors for the decorative linearity of his work. Born in Cheltenham, New Zealand, in 1905, Coventry grew up in Tokomaru Bay. After enrolling for a brief time at Elam School of Art in Auckland in 1922, he studied under Harry Linley Richardson at Wellington Technical College from 1922 until 1926. The impact Richardson had on Coventry was immense, leading to his life-long commitment to viewing art as an integral part of everyday life. Much of Coventry’s study was done at night-school while supporting himself by working as a draughtsman by day.
The emergence of Coventry’s highly individual style was encouraged by Julian Ashton at the Sydney School of Art where Coventry enrolled in 1926. The work which first brought Coventry to public attention was his Self-Portrait, pencil drawing (1927). Notable for its cinematic modernity and meticulous attention to detail, the drawing featured in the Society of Artists’ “Special Exhibition” at the David Jones Art Gallery in Sydney in May of 1929.
In 1929, Coventry relocated to London to study engraving under Iain Macnab, developing a far from traditional approach to the medium. Impressed by his work, Malcolm Salaman published Coventry’s engraving Apples & Birds of Paradise in The Studio. Several of his engravings also featured in the “Exhibition of Modern Prints” at the Twenty One Gallery, London, in December 1929. Praise from the art critic for The Times led to Coventry holding a solo exhibition of his drawings and engravings at the Twenty One Gallery in February, 1930. The Contemporary Arts Society purchased Temporary Staircase, an engraving of scaffolding at a building site, for the British Museum Print Room.
Assigning as much energy to his commercial art as his fine art, Coventry had a client list resembling a trade directory. His clients included: the Australian Broadcasting Commission, Australian National Travel Association, British Petroleum Ltd, British Home Office, British Imperial Airways, British Post Office, The Daily Telegraph, Egyptian State Railways, London Transport, New Zealand Shipping Co Ltd, Shell Mex, Southern Railways, Union Steam Ship Co of New Zealand and the Wellington Wool Manufacturing Co Ltd. Examples of his advertising art appeared in The Studio, Commercial Art, Modern Publicity and Advertising Word. His poster for Southern Railways, Winter Sunshine Holidays In Southern England, featured in the “British Art in Industry Exhibition”, London (1935).
Coventry was also invited to travel to Egypt to design posters for the Egyptian Government’s Railways and Tourist Departments and the Orient Line. James Gleeson noted that William Dobell occupied Coventry’s Bayswater studio-flat while he was in Egypt, and on his return they shared it for a time, making sketches of London street scenes from the windows. (Dobell’s portrait of Coventry is now in the Art Gallery of New South Wales collection). The rapidly expanding travel market also provided Coventry with interior design commissions. He was among leading artists selected by Edward Brian O’Rorke to work on the interior of RMS Orcades I, a luxury steamship launched in 1937. Coventry designed an etched glass scheme for the 1st class café.
In 1939, the New Zealand government commissioned Coventry to paint four murals for the “Centennial Exhibition”. These were the antithesis of Coventry’s usually innovative graphic style, suggesting he felt constrained by the terms of the commission. Returning to London, he became a camouflage officer for the British Air Ministry during World War II, responsible for designing camouflage schemes for military installations. He also managed to maintain his artistic career despite difficulties such as having his engraving plates destroyed during the blitz in 1940. He exhibited paintings and drawings at the Royal Academy, and the War Artists Advisory Committee purchased his oil painting, Dummy Figures used in Training (1942), for the Imperial War Museum.
A member of the Society of Industrial Designers, Coventry’s commitment to art and industry led to him joining the Art Workers Guild in 1945, the Society of Industrial Artists in 1946, and being elected a member of the Society of Mural Painters in 1947. A year later he received one of his most important liner commissions, the creation of murals for the Cunard’s luxury liner RMS Caronia II. The Art Deco simplicity of these murals was evident in Horses Released from Work (1948). Consisting of twelve carved and gilded gesso panels on polished veneer, it was installed above the entrance to the 1st class lounge.
Other liners for which he created painted murals and etched glass designs include the New Zealand Shipping Company’s M.V Rangitiki (1947), M.V. Rangitoto (1949) and Ruahine (1951) and for the P&O line, the Himalaya (1949). The staging of an exhibition of Coventry’s mural decorations, paintings and engravings at New Zealand House, London, in May 1950, provided an ideal opportunity to showcase many of these works.
In 1951, Coventry began teaching perspective and life drawing at the Chelsea School of Art. Never content to confine himself to just one artform, he was by now experimenting with techniques for ornamenting large sheets of architectural glass. He registered a patent for sand-blasting, engraving, etching, colouring and moulding glass in 1955 (GB787758). Demand for his services as a glass designer grew to such an extent that he resigned from Chelsea School of Art in 1958 to concentrate on this aspect of his art. The most significant of his glass commissions was the design of fourteen windows for the Plymouth Guildhall to replace those destroyed during a German bombing raid. Depicting scenes from the history of the Plymouth, this commission began in 1958 and took 25 years to complete.
Coventry also undertook several commissions in London during this period, including a mural for Queensland House; a large tile mosaic entitled The Labours of Hercules for the exterior wall of the Central Office of Information; stained glass windows for St Alphage House and the Masonic Lodge in Hendon; an etched and engraved armorial plaque for a city guild; and murals for the Scarsdale Arms Public House, Kensington. This represents only a sample of his commercial undertakings, many of which are still to be fully documented.
Examples of his murals and etched glass designs featured in the “Art on the Liners” exhibition at Southampton Art Gallery in 1986. Coventry died in London in 1997.
Works by Adelaide-born painter Fred Coventry (1913-1995), are sometimes misattributed to Frederick Halford Coventry.
- Writers:
- Dr Gail Ross
Note:
- Date written:
- 2008
- Last updated:
- 2011
- Status:
- peer-reviewed
