Exhibition 'Maurice Dolphin: A Painter's Life' in Beecroft Art Gallery
Maurice Dolphin, 74, is a resident of a one bedroom flat managed by South Essex Homes in Bishop House, Western Approaches, Southend.
Maurice grew up at his family home in Trinity Road, Southend, and attended Hamstel Road School. After school, between the ages of 15 and 17, he studied Life Drawing at Southend School of Art, which was based in a large corrugated iron building just off Victoria Circus.
For eighteen years spanning the 1970s & 1980s, Maurice worked for I.P.C. Magazines, which produced comic magazines including Tiger, Roy of the Rovers, Eagle and 2000 AD. Maurice was a member of SLADE (Society of Lithographic Artists Designers and Engravers) and he saw huge changes in the world of magazine design. He said: “Towards the late eighties, the days of brushes, pencils and set squares were ending as computerisation took over so much of the work we used to do at the magazine and many of the people of my generation suffered from this big change.”
Following his redundancy from I.P.C. Magazines in 1989, Maurice worked at the Daily Express for a short time.
These days, Maurice’s flat in Bishop House doubles up as an artist’s studio from where he paints his large scale portraits and landscapes. “I was born with a brush and pencil in my hand”, he said, “and although I don’t have a particular favourite artist, the type of academic painting I favour is in a similar style to Franz Winterhalter, Frederico de Madrazo and William Bouguereau.”
In his bedroom, several canvases stand stacked together, some unfinished and some completed and presented in ornate frames. His subjects include notable people from history including members of royal families and he has painted a number of portraits of Florence Nightingale, a favourite subject of his.
In his later life Maurice has faced many life restricting challenges especially to his health but above all he is proof that for an artist there’s no obstacle that can prevent creativity.
Free Admission | Tues - Sat, 10:00 - 17:00
