| Activity | American Abstract Expressionist Painter. Joined the staff of Cornish art school in Seattle in 1923 and in 1925 travelled to Europe and the Middle East. While working at the Cornish school he met Beatrice Straight, the actress daughter of Dorothy Elmhirst, who invited him to work at Dartington Hall School. In 1931 he set up a studio over the archway in the courtyard. He was a popular art teacher at Dartington and gave free classes to anyone who wanted to attend; painting and teaching art at Dartington Hall from 1931-1938. During his seven years at Dartington Hall he developed in his own work the famous 'white writing' technique. Dorothy and Leonard sponsored Tobey and Bernard Leach's visit to Japan and the far east, which was to have a profound effect on both artists. He was responsible for the murals executed at the Dance School at Dartington Hall in 1934. The design was based on the dance-mime production of 'The Three Marys' using Paula Morel as a model (a Dartington employee). They were painted over during the occupation of the building during World War II. In 1938, with war in Europe imminent, Tobey returned to the US. After the end of the war he settled in Basle, Switzerland as he found the market for his paintings was greater in Europe than in the US. He died in 1978. Dorothy and Leonard acquired many of Tobey's paintings including a drawing of Ruth Elmhirst done when she was ten years old.
The Chinese shadow puppets in the Trust Collection are almost definitely those brought back from China by Mark Tobey in 1934. This was the year when he made his trip to the East with Bernard Leach and puppeteer Richard Odlin, financed by Dorothy Elmhirst. Unfortunately there appears to be very little in the Archive papers referring to these puppets, including in the extensive correspondence between Mark Tobey and the Elmhirsts. |