Daphne Reynolds, painter; Guardian obit
Hyfler/Rosner
Gifted painter famed for her desert landscapes
Michael Kauffmann
Friday January 24, 2003
The Guardian
The painter and printmaker Daphne Reynolds, who has died aged 84, is best
known for her brilliant studies of the desert landscapes of Australia, and
of New Mexico and Arizona, the subject of a solo exhibition at the Angela
Flowers gallery in 1975.
It was in 1968 that Reynolds made an extended visit to Arizona and New
Mexico. The broad sweep of desert landscape, with its low horizons and
burning sunsets, proved inspirational and, for the next few years, she
produced a series of small, stunning paintings in Indian ink and gouache on
paper, all made in the studio from small sketches done on the spot to aid
the memory. In 1973, the desert landscapes of central Australia, New
Zealand, Thailand and Iran provided further stimulus for work in this style.
Born in Huddersfield, the daughter of a portrait photographer, Reynolds
began her career assisting in her father's studio. She studied at
Huddersfield College of Art from 1934 to 1937, and, at the outbreak of the
second world war, joined the local ARP unit. She transferred to the London
headquarters of civil defence in 1941, where she met her future husband,
Graham Reynolds, of the Victoria and Albert museum, whom she married in
1943.
Her career as a painter began at the beginning of the 1950s; the earliest
works were watercolours, somewhat in the style of neo-romantic landscapes of
the 1940s. She never again worked in this manner, but her choice of
subject - landscapes, plants, still life, animals - remained consistent
throughout her career.
From 1957, a time when non-figurative painting was dominant in both Europe
and the United States, Reynolds began to experiment with abstract forms of
expression. Yet her point of departure usually remained anchored in the
visible world. Archaeological sites, for instance the entrance to the
Treasury Of Atreus tomb at Mycenae, were partially dissolved into an
abstract configuration of broad sweeps of colour, demonstrating the adage
that creation is not a reproduction of observed facts but an emotional
response filtered the rough various techniques.
These are dark, powerful paintings, some of them peopled by sinister figures
full of menace. There were also large oil paintings, one of which was chosen
by Harold Wilson to decorate 10 Downing Street.
The 1970s saw Reynolds blossoming as a printmaker, working in mezzotint, an
art she had mastered under the supervision of Anthony Gross, at the Slade.
Mezzotint is a form of engraving in which the plate is roughened so that its
surface retains ink according to the degree of roughness in any area. It
can, therefore, print in contrasting tones from light to dark, and Reynolds
exploited this range of tones in a masterly manner, endowing objects of
daily use, observed in meticulous detail - kettles, irons, nutcrackers, tin
openers, candles - with a mysterious, even visionary, effect. These tiny
prints are among her most original works.
Meanwhile, in 1959, her husband, a specialist in Victorian painting and
portrait miniatures, had become keeper of the department of prints and
drawings and paintings at the V&A. Daphne had clearly stimulated his
interest in contemporary art, which led to the foundation of the formidable
collection of 20th-century watercolours and prints at the museum.
Her 80th birthday exhibition at the Chapel galleries, in Essex, demonstrated
her artistic stature. There was enormous variety, but the personal vision
and artistic quality proved to be present in each phase of her career. She
also took part in the wider world of her profession, becoming the chair of
the Women's International Art Club (1964-67). She was a Yorkshire woman of
great human warmth, and neither her jollity nor her outspokenness were
affected by years of living in the south.
Graham survives her.
· Daphne Reynolds, painter and printmaker, born January 12 1918; died
December 12 2002