Nell Hutton

1907 - 1997

Helen (Nell) Blair was born in New Zealand. She studied in Paris and married the New Zealand muralist and glass engraver John Hutton in 1934. In 1936 they moved to the United Kingdom, initially living in a commune in Suffolk before setting up their joint studio in Thorpe-le-Soken, Essex. They collaborated on many projects and continued to work and exhibit together after their divorce in 1960. Her Modernist paintings have a distinctive style, often containing classical and biblical references. Later in life she turned to making Surreal collages which were mostly non-figurative. She held several exhibitions of these in Cambridge. She wrote several books including Textile Structures (1975) and Mosaic Making Techniques (1977).