John Dronsfield - A Voortreckking we will go!
John Dronsfield - A Voortreckking we will go!
JD103
JOHN DRONSFIELD
(1900-1951)
“A Voortrekking we will go!’
Signed, inscribed with title beneath the mount
Black ink
Unframed, in mount only
20 by 19.5 cm., 8 by 7 ¾ in.
(mount size 34 by 33 cm., 13 ½ by 13 in.)
John Marsden Dronsfield was born in Lancashire. He studied briefly at Manchester School of Art. In 1918 he enlisted in the Young Solder’s Battalion of the Cheshire Regiment but was discharged the following year as being physically unfit. In 1923 he began work in London as an advertising artist and stage-designer for Sybil Thorndike. In 1939 he moved to South Africa, settling in Cape Town, where he built a reputation as an imaginative stage-designer for ballet and theatre. In 1945-48 he worked with Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies and Marda Vanne in theatrical productions which were a major contribution to the development of theatre in South Africa. He also wrote incidental music for their 1945 production of The Merry Wives of Windsor. He was a member of the International Art Club, South Africa.
His first one-man exhibition was held in Cape Town in 1939. His work was included in the Overseas Exhibition of South African Art in the Tate Gallery, London in 1948 and in the Venice Biennale of 1950.
A Memorial Exhibition was help at the South African National Art Gallery, Cape Town in 1955.
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“A Voortrekking we will go!’Signed, inscribed with title beneath the mountBlack inkUnframed, in mount only20 by 19.5 cm., 8 by 7 ¾ in.(mount size 34 by 33 cm., 13 ½ by 13 in.)John Marsden Dronsfield was born in Lancashire. He studied briefly at Manchester School of Art. In 1918 he enlisted in the Young Solder’s Battalion of the Cheshire Regiment but was discharged the following year as being physically unfit. In 1923 he began work in London as an advertising artist and stage-designer for Sybil Thorndike. In 1939 he moved to South Africa, settling in Cape Town, where he built a reputation as an imaginative stage-designer for ballet and theatre. In 1945-48 he worked with Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies and Marda Vanne in theatrical productions which were a major contribution to the development of theatre in South Africa. He also wrote incidental music for their 1945 production of The Merry Wives of Windsor. He was a member of the International Art Club, South Africa.His first one-man exhibition was held in Cape Town in 1939. His work was included in the Overseas Exhibition of South African Art in the Tate Gallery, London in 1948 and in the Venice Biennale of 1950. A Memorial Exhibition was help at the South African National Art Gallery, Cape Town in 1955.){kind=link}