Allan (Alan) James Cunnington ( 1914-2003 )
Untitled “Green Woodpecker ”
Size (mat opening) 11 3/4” x 13 3/4” ( 21 1/4″ x 23 5/8″ framed ) ………$695.00 Canadian
Wildlife and portrait painter Allan James Cunnington was a British Canadian artist who created a wide body of work during his lifetime. His paintings have been exhibited in Canada, England, and the United States. Although a commercial artist by trade, his skills evolved, specializing in highly detailed watercolour paintings. Of note, he produced numerous bird paintings, similar to those of the highly respected Canadian artist James Fenwick Lansdowne. His other subject matter included country landscapes, local city scenes, and portraits.
Allan James Cunnington was born in 1914 to Percy and Eunice Cunnington. He was raised in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England, where he met and married Nancy Wigmore Lloyd. In 1935, the couple’s son, Roger Allan Cunnington, was born. Family life was interrupted with the outbreak of World War II, with Allan serving six years in the military.
After the war, Allan worked for a Gloucester advertising firm as a commercial artist. Like many others in the trade, he enjoyed painting and sketching in his free time. Meanwhile, his son Roger had emigrated to Canada, settling in the Niagara Region of Ontario, later raising a family there. After retiring from his commercial arts position in 1981, Allan and his wife, Nancy also emigrated to Canada. The couple settled in the historic town of Queenston, residing on Prince Street near the Niagara River.
Allan exhibited his paintings throughout Southern Ontario. This included places such as Toronto, the Buckhorn Festival of the Arts (formerly known as the Buckhorn Art Festival), and various areas of the Niagara Region, like the Hennepin Art Gallery in Welland, the Rosberg Gallery in Niagara Falls, and the Queenston Spring Exhibition (for which he won best in show in 1985). One of his works, pencil and watercolour painting of three owls, is houses in the permanent collection of the RiverBrink Art Museum.
View some of Allan Cunnington’s art on display in the Rosberg Gallery from 1984.
Copyright of the artist and / or the artist estate.