Edward Bawden - Later Work

Later Work

Bawden lived in Great Bardfield, Essex from the 1930s to 1970. While living at Bardfield he was an important member of the Great Bardfield Artists. This group of local artists were diverse in style but shared a love for figurative art, making the group distinct from the better known St Ives art community in Cornwall, who, after the war, were chiefly dominated by abstractionists.

In 1949 Bawden provided illustrations for the book "London is London – A Selection of Prose and Verse by D. M. Low".

During the 1950s the Great Bardfield Artists organised a series of large ‘open house’ exhibitions which attracted national press attention. Positive reviews and the novelty of viewing art works in the artists own homes (including Bawden's Brick House) led to thousands visiting the remote village during the summer exhibitions of 1954, 1955 and 1958. As well as these shows the Great Bardfield Artists held several touring exhibitions of their work in 1957, 1958 and 1959.

After the death of his wife in 1970, Bawden moved to the nearby town of Saffron Walden, where he continued to work until his death.

He died at home on 21 November 1989, aged eighty-six.

Bawden's work can be seen in many major collections and is shown regularly at the Fry Art Gallery in Saffron Walden and the Bedford Museum & Art Gallery in Bedford.