Skip to main content
Read page text
page 6
TWO-PART APPRAISAL OF MARGIAD EVANS PART ONE ART, WRITING AND MYOPIA DRAWING ON PREVIOUSLY UNPUBLISHED ARTWORK AND LETTERS, JIM PRATT ARGUES FOR THE UNIQUE TALENT OF THE AUTHOR AS A VISUAL ARTIST, AND FOR HER GENIUS AS A NATURE WRITER Margiad Evans (Peggy Whistler, 1909–1958, author of five novels and short stories, three autobiographies and two published volumes of poetry, also my aunt) trained as an artist, more notably specialising in etching. Recently discovered diminutive drawings from her time at art school while still a teenager show her to be a highly talented designer and artist, able to depict expression in faces only a few millimetres across. After illustrating for two authors, she turned to writing instead, and art became subsidiary (but still important) for the rest of her life, itself cut short by cancer. Her tastes in subjects were catholic, but much in this author’s possession are in the form of black-and-white sketches, mostly of landscape and architecture. The last pieces, made before and after she was diagnosed as epileptic (caused by a brain tumour) are curious, almost primitive renditions of allegory in which perspective is dispensed All illustrations by Margiad Evans/Peggy Whistler, pictured opposite with hen Mrs Cluck (Springherne, Ross-on-Wye, 1938). 4
page 7
5

Page Text

View plaintext

TWO-PART APPRAISAL OF MARGIAD EVANS

PART ONE ART, WRITING AND MYOPIA

DRAWING ON PREVIOUSLY UNPUBLISHED

ARTWORK AND LETTERS, JIM PRATT ARGUES FOR THE UNIQUE TALENT OF THE

AUTHOR AS A VISUAL ARTIST, AND FOR

HER GENIUS AS A NATURE WRITER

Margiad Evans (Peggy Whistler, 1909–1958, author of five novels and short stories, three autobiographies and two published volumes of poetry, also my aunt) trained as an artist, more notably specialising in etching. Recently discovered diminutive drawings from her time at art school while still a teenager show her to be a highly talented designer and artist, able to depict expression in faces only a few millimetres across. After illustrating for two authors, she turned to writing instead, and art became subsidiary (but still important) for the rest of her life, itself cut short by cancer. Her tastes in subjects were catholic, but much in this author’s possession are in the form of black-and-white sketches, mostly of landscape and architecture. The last pieces, made before and after she was diagnosed as epileptic (caused by a brain tumour) are curious, almost primitive renditions of allegory in which perspective is dispensed

All illustrations by Margiad Evans/Peggy Whistler, pictured opposite with hen Mrs Cluck (Springherne, Ross-on-Wye, 1938).

4

read next page

My Bookmarks

Buy this Book
Skip to main content