Charles Isaac Ginner CBE NEAC ARA (4 March 1878 – 6 January 1952) was a British painter best known for his paintings of landscapes and urban scenes. He was elected a member of the NEAC in 1920

Early Life and Education

Ginner was born on 4 March 1878 in Cannes. From an early age, he aspired to become a painter, but his parents disapproved.

 

When he was sixteen, he suffered from typhoid and double pneumonia and travelled on a tramp steamer around the South Atlantic and the Mediterranean to convalesce. After returning to Cannes, he worked briefly in an engineer's office, then in 1899, at the age of 21, he moved to Paris to study architecture.

 

In 1904, his parents withdrew their opposition to his becoming a painter, and Ginner entered the Académie Vitti in Paris. Henri Martin taught there at the time, but Ginner worked mostly under Paul Gervais, who objected to his use of bright colours.

 

In 1905, Ginner moved to the École des Beaux Arts. However, in 1906, after Gervais had left, he returned to Académie Vitti, where his principal teacher was Hermenegildo Anglada Camarasa, who disapproved of his admiration for Vincent van Gogh.

 

Painting Career

In 1908, Ginner left Académie Vitti and began working independently in Paris, drawing inspiration from Vincent van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, and Paul Cézanne.

 

In 1909, he visited Buenos Aires, where he held his first solo show, which helped to introduce post-Impressionism to South America. His oil paintings showed the influence of Van Gogh, marked by heavy impasto.

 

In 1910, Ginner went to London to serve on the hanging committee of the Allied Artists Association's third exhibition. Harold Gilman and Spencer Gore became his friends and persuaded him to settle in London. He lived at first in Battersea, but afterwards in Camden Town, where he was a neighbour of Gilman and Gore and regularly attended the Saturday afternoon gatherings at 19 Fitzroy Street. There he met Robert Bevan, John Nash, Albert Rothenstein, C. R. W. Nevinson, Jacob Epstein, Walter Bayes, Walter Sickert, and Lucien Pissarro.

 

Ginner joined several important artistic groups in quick succession: the Camden Town Group in 1911, the London Group in 1913, and the Cumberland Market Group in 1914. That same year, he outlined the principles of New Realism—his artistic creed—in the journal The New Age. He also held a joint exhibition with Gilman at the Goupil Gallery.

During World War I, in about 1916, Ginner was called up, serving in the Royal Army Ordnance Corps, the Intelligence Corps, and finally the Canadian War Records, for which he painted a powder-filling factory in Hereford.

 

Following Gilman’s death in 1919, Ginner published an appreciation of the artist in Art and Letters. In 1920, he became a member of the New English Art Club.

 

During World War II, he was again an Official War Artist, specialising in harbour scenes and bomb-damaged buildings in London. In 1942, he became an Associate of the Royal Academy, where he advocated the admission of younger artists.

 

In 1950, he was awarded the CBE.

 

Death and Legacy

Ginner died in London on 6 January 1952. The Arts Council of Great Britain held a touring memorial in 1953-54. The Tate Gallery in London and many other galleries hold his work. The National Portrait Gallery, London, has a typically precise self-portrait.

 

Collections

  • Aberdeen Art Gallery
  • Arts Council Collection, London
  • Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
  • Beecroft Art Gallery
  • Bolton Museum and Art Gallery
  • Bristol Museum & Art Gallery
  • British Council Collection
  • Ferens Art Gallery, Hull
  • Glynn Vivian Art Gallery
  • Government Art Collection
  • Grosvenor Museum
  • Harris Museum & Art Gallery
  • Hatton Gallery
  • Imperial War Museum, London
  • Jerwood Collection
  • Leeds Art Gallery, Leeds Museums and Galleries
  • Leicester Museum & Art Gallery
  • Manchester Art Gallery
  • National Museum Cardiff
  • National Trust, Fenton House
  • National Portrait Gallery, London
  • Tate Gallery, London

 

Acknowledgements, Further Info & Images