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Charcoal drawings, Holloway College, about 1937

My late mother created these charcoal drawings when she was a student at Royal Holloway College. They are all 19 x 12.5 inches (48 x 32 cm). I assume they were done in 1936, ’37, or ’38. She graduated in German in 1939 — the same year that war broke out with Germany, coincidentally.

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See Paintings by Charles William Carey later on this page for a an almost identical view years before.

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See Paintings by Charles William Carey later on this page for the location of these steps.

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My mother gained a degree in German in 1939; the same year that war broke out with Germany. My generation was led to believe — by films, books, and magazines — that World War 2 brought out the best in people. My mother, who worked assessing bomb damage insurance claims, said it was otherwise and I have read many accounts that verify her statement. For example:

Val and her partner, horrified, stared at the bodies lying below them. ‘I saw men running about and bending over the dead and wounded. At first I thought they were feeling for a heartbeat but they’d come in from the street and were taking their wallets and money.’

— Anne de Courcy, Debs at War, 2005

Paintings by Charles William Carey

My mother’s View from above stone steps is clearly of the same steps at the far end of the terrace in Carey’s south-east corner painting.

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And this is clearly the same as my mother’s Stone steps, although the trees and bushes indicate the more than 40 years separating the two artworks.

My mother’s View from above stone steps (and the far steps in Carey’s south-east corner) and Stone steps (and Carey’s south-west terrace steps) are surely different aspects of the same steps.

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I assume my mother used this station when studying at Holloway College. Coincidentally, 40 years later, that is in early 1979, I attended a job interview in Egham and I undoubtedly also used this station. I was just finishing a Higher National Diploma in computing at the Polytechnic of Wales. (I did not get the job.)

Related

Airplane art

Hang gliding drawings

My 1970s bike designs

Painted history of hang glider design part 1

External link

Royal Holloway College Wikipedia entry