Mary Kessell
| Mary Kessell | |
|---|---|
| Born | 13 November 1914 |
| Died | 1977 |
| Nationality | British |
| Education | |
| Occupation | Artist |
| Spouse(s) | Tom Eckersley |
Mary M Kessell (13 November 1914 – 1977) was a British figurative painter, illustrator, designer and war artist. Born in London, she studied at the Clapham School of Art, then later at the Central School of Arts and Crafts. At the end of the Second World War, she was commissioned to work in Germany as an official British war artist; one of only three women selected. She spent six weeks in Germany, travelling to the recently liberated Bergen-Belsen concentration camp as well as other major cities including Berlin. She produced charcoal drawings of refugees, primarily of women and children which she subsequently sold to the War Artists Advisory Committee. After the war Kessell collaborated with the Needlework Development Scheme, NDS, to produce experimental designs for machine and hand embroidery as well as working for Shell as a designer. She later returned to the Central School to teach at the School of Silversmithing and Jewellery alongside the painter Richard Hamilton.
Kessell was born on 13 November 1914 in London. She began her artistic training at the Clapham School of Art, where she studied from 1935 to 1937, then at the Central School of Arts and Crafts from 1937 to 1939. Throughout her time as a student she illustrated books, one of which was Miss Kimber by Osbert Sitwell in 1937.
During the end of the Second World War, Kessell was based in Germany having been commissioned by the War Artists Advisory Committee, WAAC, as an official British war artist. Just three female war artists worked abroad during World War II; as one of them, Kessell was asked to document refugees "moving through Europe in the aftermath of the German surrender". She spent six weeks in Germany, from 9 August 1945 to 20 September, where she made charcoal drawings of refugees as well as keeping a diary of her experiences.
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