Artwork
Council House, Bristol
Council House, Bristol is a watercolor work on paper by the Social Realist artist Phyllis E. Ginger. It dates from 1942 and is held in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum. A watercolour by Phyllis E.
About this work
Overview
The collection reflects concerns over bomb damage, urban development, and the broader transformation of the British environment.
A watercolour by Phyllis E. Ginger, dated 1942, depicts the Old Council House on Bristol’s Corn Street from an oblique angle across the street, with a partially demolished structure, possibly bomb-damaged, visible in the foreground to the left. The work was produced as part of the Recording Britain project, a wartime initiative launched in 1940 by the Committee for the Employment of Artists in Wartime to document places and buildings across Britain facing potential destruction or change. Funded by the Pilgrim Trust and overseen by Sir Kenneth Clark, the scheme commissioned artists to record scenes including market towns, churches, and historic buildings, aiming to preserve a visual record of the nation’s cultural landscape during the Second World War. The collection reflects concerns over bomb damage, urban development, and the broader transformation of the British environment.
Artist & collection
Artist
Phyllis E. Ginger painted watercolours of British streets and buildings in the 1940s. Her brush captured Council House in Bristol in 1942 and a Regency terrace lined with tall trees. She also drew barns and farm carts…
