Artists Illustrating Boys' Fashions: Marjoria Fuller (England, 1893-1939)



Figure 1.--Fuller shows us a school boy mulling over a drawing in "Yomg Artist". I'm not sure just when it was painted or what the boy was wearing.

The Artist

Marjoria Fuller (née Mostyn) was a 20th century English artist born Bushey. Daughter of Tom Mostyn, the painter. She tudied at St John's Wood Art School and Royal Academy Schools. Awarded the British Institute Scolarship and silver and bronze medals in 1915. Painter of portraits and still-life. Ran St. Ives School of Painting with her husband.

The Painting

I am no great fan of modern art. This painting does nicely show the boy's personality. Perhaps painting his clothes as a blur forces the viewer's attention to the boy's face. I don't think the big grey blur, however, really adds to the painting.

Clothes

The image of the school boy shown here reveals little about his clothes. Actually it looks rather like a French school smock, but there is no indication that the boy is French. The portrait apparently depicts a "Young Artist". While little information on clothing is provided, it does show the pen and ink that boys once had to use.

Comments

One HBC contributor comments: Perhaps you're casting your net a little too widely here. As you say, this picture tells us much about boys' clothing of the period--although it is a charming painting. HBU comment: Yes you are right, but more personality comes through here along with ink well amd pen. I still remember when we had ink wells. I thought it useful to give a bit of a feeling for the schoolboy experience of the day, ink wells, ink splotches, writing with a dip pin, ect. I did also wonder if he was wearing a smock.

Another HBC contributor comments: Since the boy is painting and children often wear smocks, it does not surprise me that an English boy is wearing a smock while painting. Otherwise he may ruin his clothes. We may be forgetting that back then, clothes consumed a much greater portion of the average family's income than today! Therefore, people took better care of their clothes than today! Also, clothes were much more of a status symbol then than today!!!




Christopher Wagner





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Created: August 27, 2000
Last updated: August 27, 2000