Marion Adnams

///pouch.torch.charm

Marion Elizabeth Adnams (3 December 1898 – 24 October 1995) was an English painter, printmaker and draughtswoman. She is notable for her surrealist paintings, in which apparently unconnected objects appear together in unfamiliar, often outdoor, environments. Some of her paintings depict landscapes and landmarks close to, or within, her native town of Derby.

Written by Derby Museums:

Marion Adnams was born in Derby in 1898 and remained there, for the most part, until her death at the age of 96 in 1995. During her long life, she forged a reputation as a painter of deeply distinctive and dream-like visions inspired by the Surrealist movement. Although she worked full time as an art teacher, as well as caring for her mother, Adnams exhibited her work in London and many regional art galleries from the late 1930s. Today, examples of her paintings and drawings can be found in numerous public collections including the National Galleries of Scotland and Manchester Art Gallery.

Derby Museums is the home to the UK’s largest collection of Adnams’ work, recently enhanced by the generous donation of her personal archive, courtesy of her estate. The collection features items as diverse as family photographs, books, and postcards, through to sketchbooks, paintbrushes, paintings, and collected objects such as shells and vine roots. The new display, Marion Adnams: Into ‘the Enchanted Country’ aims to present a comprehensive and rounded picture of Adnams and her accomplishments. The display is the first step towards creating a space that highlights the breadth of the work of this often overlooked artist. Future additions to the display will include items from Adnams’ personal archive, such as rarely before seen objects that she collected and used as a reference in her work.

For Adnams, time for painting was squeezed around teaching and caring for her ageing mother. She later described the process of painting as an escape into what she called ‘the Enchanted Country’. Tragically in 1968, just eight years after retiring, she began to lose her sight and was forced to give up painting completely. Today, her work is in greater demand than ever for exhibitions and her popularity is increasing as a result.

Marion now rests with her parents near the entrance of Nottingham Road Cemetery.