Eileen Mayo
Dame Eileen Rosemary Mayo
Life in England
She was born in
In 1927 she was instructed in lino-cutting by
She held teaching positions at
Marriage
In 1936 she married Dr Richard Gainsborough, who founded Art News & Reviews; she designed the first issue when it appeared in 1949.[3] The marriage ended in 1952.
Life in Australia
Mayo emigrated to Australia in 1952 after separating from her husband and became one of the many migrants who contributed to the postwar print revival. She taught at the National Art School in Sydney and was a member of Sydney Printmakers. Her career in Australia included working on murals and designing tapestries and posters.[1]
Stamp design in Australia
As part of the Australian Commonwealth series of six
Life in New Zealand
In 1962, she moved to Waimate, New Zealand, where her mother and sister had lived since 1921. By 1965 Mayo had moved to Christchurch, where she taught at the University of Canterbury (SFA) until 1972. For more than three years she also worked on an underwater diorama with Otago Museum. A founding member of Sydney Printmakers, she was on the Print Council of New Zealand. Apart from a period in Dunedin from 1972 to 1975, she remained in Christchurch until her death. Her last works were silkscreen prints, which she found the easiest medium to use with decreasing mobility, insisting, as always, that they be sold at affordable prices.
Stamp design in New Zealand
Mayo continued to design stamps in New Zealand, such as the 1969 Cook Bicentenary and 1971 Antarctic Treaty, and
Studied at institutions
- The Slade School of Fine Art, London (1924–25)
- Grosvenor School of Modern Art under Claude Flight
- Central School of Arts and Crafts, London under Noel Rooke and John Farleigh.
- Chelsea Polytechnic(1936), London
- Académie de Montmartre, Paris (1948–49) under Fernand Léger
Lectured at institutions
- Saint Martin's School of Art
- Sir John Cass College, London (1950–53)
- National Art School, Sydney (1957–62)
- School of Fine Art, University of Canterbury (from 1967)
Work at public collections in New Zealand
- Aigantighe Art Gallery
- Dowse Art Museum
- Dunedin Public Art Gallery
- Hocken Collections
- Manawatu Art Gallery
- Christchurch Art Gallery
- National Library of New Zealand
- Rotorua Museum of Art and History
- Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
- Alexander Turnbull Library
Book illustrations
Written and Illustrated by Eileen Mayo
- The Story of Living Things and Their Evolution
- Nature's ABC
- Little Animals of the Countryside
- Larger Animals of the Countryside
- Animals on the Farm
- Shells and How They Live
- Serge Lifar: Sixteen Drawings in Black and White
- The Story of Living Things and their Evolution
Illustrated by Eileen Mayo
- First French Course for Seniors
- Some Scottish Dances
- Best Cat Stories
- A Primer of Classical Ballet (Cecchetti Method) for Children
- A Second Primer of Classical Ballet (Cecchetti Method) for Children
- One Day on Beetle Rock
- Rational Limbering
- The Story of the World
- The Children's Circus Book
- Japanese Garland
- Toys
- The Poems of Amriolkais (Sir Williams Jones, translator)
List of works
- Woman at a dressing table colour linoleum cut circa 1930
- Works in the collection of the Christchurch Art Gallery
Damehood
Mayo was created a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire, for services to art, in the 1994 New Year Honours,[6] one week before her death at the age of 87.
References
- ^ a b c d "The Artists: Eileen Mayo (1906–1994)". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 4 May 2012.
- ^ "Exhibition Catalogues". Retrieved 11 March 2023.
- ^ Gainsborough, John (5 January 1994). "Obituary: Dame Eileen Mayo". The Independent. London. Retrieved 12 November 2009.
- ^ a b Breckon, Richard (February 2006). "Australia's Decimal Currency Stamps 1966". Stanley Gibbons Monthly. Archived from the original on 24 June 2006. Retrieved 2 February 2009.
- ^ "1970 Low Value Definitive Stamps Issue featured butterflies, moths and fish". New Zealand Post Office. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
- ^ "No. 53528". The London Gazette (2nd supplement). 31 December 1993. p. 33.