gyrth_russell.com

This page will show the many diverse subjects which Gyrth was adept at undertaking with consummate skill and draughtmanship ..

Portraits :

Ronagh Russell

Young cricketer

Meg Kimmens

British Rail Posters :

Between the wars the railway companies commisioned artwork from many leading artists of the era to produce large eye-catching posters of all the destinations that could be reached by rail , as well as smaller landscapes of Britain to be displayed in their trains as railway carriage prints. These artists included Rowland Hilder, Jack Merriott, Frank H Mason, James McIntosh Patrick, Henry Rushbury, Claude Buckle and of course Gyrth Russell.The carriage prints were faithfully reproduced in detail , whereas the large posters were much more simplified with bright gaudy coloration ( see the limited edition painting of `Cornwall` and the railway poster below ) These posters are much sought after by collectors of Railway memorabilia. and fetch high prices at auction.

Nude studies :

These three paintings are the only finished oil nudes left by Gyrth. They are of Gyrths then young wife Ronagh who allowed them to be painted on one condition.. That was because Ronagh was the headmistress at a local girls school and as she often had the young pupils back to her house for extra tuition, she insisted that the facial details were to be shaded and indistinct. She definately did not want any of the girls seeing the paintings and recognising their headmistress !

Nude 1 `Tail piece`

Nude 2 `Middle piece`

Nude 3 `Frontispiece`

There is another good tale of Gyrth, Ronagh and the early Parisian nudes on our `Sepias and sketches ` page..

Still lives and `Modern art`.. :

Flowers in a white vase

Berries and leaves

`Red squares on the Hypotaneuse`

The First World War :

When WWI was declared Gyrth left France for Rye on the southern English coast and on Christmas Eve 1917 , he was appointed as an official war artist for the Canadian army and commissioned with the honarary rank of Lieutenant. In February 1918 he arrived at the Canadian headquarters at Aubigny , was alloted a car and driver and allowed to drive anywhere in the areas occupied by the Canadians to paint and draw. It seems strange to see such delicate pastel and impressionistic colours depicting such scenes of ruin , and Gyrth was so troubled by what he saw on the front that he seldom referred to this time in later years .." I hated it ..It was contrary to everything I valued and believed in. I dont think it was just the fear of death.. but the thought of being buried alive in a filthy trench and my body serving to fertilize a French peasants crop of root vegetables!"

The majority of these paintings were from around the Vimy ridge area , near Arras , where the Canadian army won a fierce and famous victory in April 1917.

Gyrth was discharged from the army in 1919 and returned to settle for the rest of his life in England and Wales

(With grateful acknowledgments to `the Legion Magazine` and the Canadian War Museum )

The Crest of Vimey Ridge

Napoo Corner

Ruined Abbey , Ablain Saint-Nazaire

An `Estaminet` ( Cafe )

The White Chateau

Courtyard de L`abbe

Vimey ridge from Souchez

Notre Dame de Lorette

French trenches

Ruined houses , Arras

L`Hotel de Ville , Arras - Oil

L`Hotel de Ville , Arras -etching

And Finally..

After the grim paintings of the desolate French landscape at the end of the first world war we will finish with three paintings , that although are of ` derelict` boats , show the superb draughtmanship that Gyrth was capable of with the most uninspiring of subjects , and epitomise Gyrths sheer love of anything to do with boats and the sea , be it small dinghies , huge clipper ships , tugs , ferries , working boatyards , ports and harbours and even these sad boats left to rot at the end of their useful lives.

Without doubt Gyrth Russell will be recognised as one of the greatest maritime artists of the 20th Century.

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