The ‘Lost Modernist’: Michael O’Connell

Written by Adam Koszary, Project Officer.

We’re asking you to help us decide which of our two wall hangings to display in the new Museum. Both were displayed at the 1951 Festival of Britain as part of a wider series exploring the British countryside, and have not been on public display for over 60 years.

The two wall hangings which will be displayed in the new MERL (© O'Connell estate).

The two wall hangings which will be displayed in the new MERL (© O’Connell estate).

They were designed and made by the artist Michael O’Connell (1898-1976). Described as the ‘Lost Modernist’, he was a textile artist whose style and colour typify the 1950s and 1960s. At the time he was considered stylishly bold, brash and modern, but his work is still relatively unknown.

Michael O'Connell while in Australia.

Michael O’Connell while in Australia.

Artistically, O’Connell found his feet in Melbourne, Australia, where he honed his craft skills by building his own house in 1923, something he was forced into after his previous home (a tent) was condemned by a health inspector. His romantic lifestyle on the outskirts of Melbourne society, often journeying into the Australian bush to paint and draw, was a far cry from his upbringing in Dalton, Cumbria. His previous aim was to study Agriculture, but his artistic talents were never in question: when held as a prisoner of war in the First World War, one of his guards complimented his work and encouraged him to pursue a career in it.

It was also in Australia where O’Connell hit upon various pioneering methods of dying fabric with his wife, Ella Moody, both of whom were prominent in the Australian Arts & Craft Society. They returned to England in 1937 and developed a close working relationship with Heal’s of London, who proved instrumental after the Second World War in supplying fabric for the Festival of Britain wall hangings.

Michael O'Connell overseeing work on the Festival of Britain wall hanging.

Michael O’Connell overseeing work on the Festival of Britain wall hanging.

O’Connell’s commission required wall hangings to decorate the Country Pavilion at the Festival of Britain, held in May-September 1951. For the hangings themselves, O’Connell had to reflect the versatility and variety of farming in Great Britain, and so he took a tour of the nation, translating what he saw and experienced into his art. The result are seven hangings covering most of Great Britain, representing the distinctive character of our regions and providing an artistic snapshot of the state of British farming in the early 1950s.

After the Festival of Britain the popularity of Michael’s work increased and he received commissions to create murals for public buildings, restaurants, factory canteens and showrooms. His work was exhibited in New York, Melbourne and London. In the 1960s, he began to travel widely and to teach his techniques in art schools. He also worked with architects, producing murals for universities and churches.

In 1970, a devastating fire destroyed his workshop, most of his notebooks and records, and badly damaged his adjoining house. With the help of students and friends the property was rebuilt, but in the following years his eyesight began to fail. In 1976, he was found dead from self-inflicted gunshot wounds.

The V&A Museum also holds multiple pieces by O'Connell.

The V&A Museum also holds multiple pieces by O’Connell.

His work lives on in museum collections in Australia and the UK. While the MERL holds the Festival of Britain wall hangings, the V&A museum also has a large collection of his early work.

Have you voted on which wall hanging to display yet?

Chalk or cheese? Choosing a wall hanging

Written by Adam Koszary, Project Officer.

Here at the MERL we have a problem. We need to decide which of our two enormous, beautifully decorated wall hangings to display, and we’d like your help.

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Please note: The text ‘Cheshire’ and ‘Kent’ is superimposed digitally and does not appear on the original wall hangings.

The wall hangings are two of seven which were originally displayed at the 1951 Festival of Britain, and were made by the ‘lost modernist’, Michael O’Connell. Both are a snapshot of a rapidly vanishing way of life in post-war England. One depicts Cheshire, and the other depicts Kent. They have been in our stores for 65 years, and only seen by a few researchers on request.

The wall hanging will be displayed in a bespoke case measuring 7×3.7 metres in our new extension. The choice of which to display first is not one to be taken lightly, as it will be displayed for five years before being replaced with the other.

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The chosen wall hanging will be the centrepiece of the new museum. These hangings encapsulate the messages we want to share with the public: that the English countryside is beautiful, varied and personal.

To stand in front of one of O’Connell’s wall hangings is to be dwarfed. You may first take a moment to admire the craftsmanship and artistic skill that went into such a massive undertaking. The background of each hanging is a convenient deep green, the common colour of the English countryside. You then take in the detail – perhaps some of the larger buildings, a cow or a field. With closer scrutiny you will notice the woman feeding her chickens, the juxtaposition of heavy horses and tractors, or the cheeses stacked in an old barn.

Each wall hanging is packed with detail and snapshots of rural life.

Each wall hanging is packed with detail and snapshots of rural life.

Nothing is an accident. O’Connell travelled the length and breadth of Britain, immersing himself in each region’s traditions, architecture, crops, animals and people to produce these hangings.

Each one is a special tribute to the different ways of rural life in Britain, and we honestly cannot choose between the two which have been conserved and are ready to be displayed. Over the next few weeks we will be exploring each hanging, the man who made them, and the Festival of Britain. As you learn more about each one, we will ask you to vote for the one you would most like to see displayed and, when we reopen later this year, you will be able to see the selected county.

CHALK OR CHEESE

Chalk or cheese, Cheshire or Kent, which will it be? Follow our the #VoteCheshire and #VoteKent campaigns on twitter and you can even join us at a special Museums at Night event on 11th May to help you decide how to vote.