Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 21

Doris Zinkeisen
Harlequin and Pierrot - Scottish theatrical art oil painting female artist

Circa 1940

$5,534.27
£4,000
€4,768.38
CA$7,592.91
A$8,526.27
CHF 4,491.89
MX$105,536.25
NOK 55,612.87
SEK 52,945.84
DKK 35,570.92
Shipping
Retrieving quote...
The 1stDibs Promise:
Authenticity Guarantee,
Money-Back Guarantee,
24-Hour Cancellation

About the Item

This superb Scottish theatrical oil painting is by noted female artist Doris Zinkeisen. Painted circa 1940 the setting is a theatrical scene with a lady in a peach dress with her back to the audience, a musician to her left and harlequin to her right. Lush burgundy curtains frame the scene. A lovely colourful theatrical painting with heavy impasto and great fluid brushwork by a noted female artist. Signed lower right. Provenance. Cambridge estate. Condition. Oil on canvas, image size 20 inches by 24 inches, in excellent condition. Frame. Housed in a gilt frame, 27 inches by 31 inches, in good condition. Doris Clare Zinkeisen (1898-1991) was a Scottish theatrical stage and costume designer, painter, commercial artist, and writer. She was best known for her work in theatrical design. Doris Zinkeisen was born in Clynder House in Rosneath, Argyll, Scotland. Her parents were Welsh-born Clare Bolton-Charles and Victor Zinkeisen, a timber merchant and amateur artist from Glasgow. Her father's family were originally from Bohemia and had been settled in Scotland for two hundred years. She had a younger sister, Anna Zinkeisen, who also became an artist. The family left Scotland and moved to Pinner, near Harrow in 1909. Zinkeisen attended the Harrow School of Art for four years and won a scholarship to the Royal Academy Schools in 1917 together with her sister Anna. During World War I Zinkeisen served as a Voluntary Aid Detachment at a hospital in Northwood, Middlesex.Zinkeisen shared a studio in London with her sister during the 1920s and 1930s from where she embarked on her career as a painter, commercial artist, and theatrical designer.Zinkeisen's realist style made her popular as a portraitist and she became a well-known society painter. The subject matter of her paintings, society portraiture, equestrian portraiture, and scenes from the parks of London and Paris reflect the lifestyle of the upper class at the time. An early success was her 1925 portrait of the actor Elsa Lanchester. She also worked widely in other media as an illustrator and commercial artist including producing advertising posters for several British mainline railway companies and murals for the RMS Queen Mary. A 1939 poster for the London Underground, At the Theatre, was printed but never issued due to the start of World War II. In 1944, Doris and her sister Anna were commissioned by United Steel Companies (USC) to produce twelve paintings that were reproduced in the trade and technical press in Britain, Canada, Australia and South Africa. The images were subsequently collated in a book, This Present Age, published in 1946. Zinkeisen produced a number of posters for London and North Eastern Railway (LNER), Southern Railway (SR), and the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) in the 1930s. The posters often featured historical themes such as Berwick-upon-Tweed by LNER (1930) which shows Isabella MacDuff, Countess of Buchan being punished by Edward I for crowning Robert the Bruce at Scone in 1306. In 1935, John Brown and Company Shipbuilders of Clydebank commissioned both of the Zinkeisen sisters to paint the murals in the Verandah Grill, a restaurant and night-club on the ocean liner the RMS Queen Mary. The murals, on the theme of entertainment, depicted circus and theatre scenes and can still be seen on the ship, now permanently moored in Long Beach, California. Zinkeisen was also involved in planning the interior decoration which featured a parquet dance floor surrounded by black Wilton carpets, star-studded red velvet curtains and a sweeping illuminated balustrade whose colours changed in time with the music. Writing in Vogue in 1936, Cecil Beaton described the Verandah Grill as By far the prettiest room on any ship – becomingly lit, gay in colour and obviously so successful that it would be crowded if twice its present size. The largest mural was damaged during World War II by gunnery officers tacking charts to the poster board covering the mural. After the war, Zinkeisen restored the mural and reportedly painted a mouse in the mural so there would always be a mouse on the Queen Mary, a dig at Cunard, which prided itself on having no rodents on their ships. Both sisters also contributed murals to the RMS Queen Elizabeth in 1940. Zinkeisen exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1929, at the Royal Society of Portrait Painters in London and in Paris and the United States. She received Bronze (1929), Silver (1930) and Gold (1934) Paris Salon medals for her work. By 1929 she had been elected a member of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters (ROI). Zinkeisen was a successful stage and costume designer for plays and films. Despite her success as a painter and commercial artist she was best known as a theatrical designer. During World War II, Zinkeisen joined the St John Ambulance Brigade and worked as a nurse in London helping wartime Blitz casualties having first trained as a Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) nurse during World War I. She worked in the casualty department in St Mary's Hospital, Paddington. Zinkeisen worked in the casualty department in the mornings and painted in the afternoons, recording the events of the day. Following the liberation of Europe in 1945, Zinkeisen was commissioned by the War Artists' Advisory Committee as a war artist for the North West Europe Commission of the Joint War Organisation of the British Red Cross Society and the Order of St John (JWO). As the organisation's staff and resources moved into newly liberated areas, Zinkeisen's role as a war artist was to record the commission's activities. Based in Brussels at the commission's headquarters she recorded the commission's post-war relief work in north west Europe including the rehabilitation and repatriation of prisoners of war and civilian internees. Zinkeisen traveled by lorry or by air (from a nearby RAF base) throughout north-west Europe making sketches which she brought back to her studio in the commission's headquarters for further work. Her work as a war artist included three days at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in April 1945, immediately after its liberation. Zinkeisen was one of a small number of artists who produced pictures of Bergen-Belsen in the months following its liberation. The other artists there included Leslie Cole, Mary Kessell, Sergeant Eric Taylor (one of the camp's liberators), Edgar Ainsworth, and Mervyn Peake. Her painting Human Laundry shows German orderlies washing camp inmates before they go to hospital. By the time Zinkeisen had become a war artist her palette had already darkened from the colours of her society paintings. Her war paintings use muted greys, browns, and ochres like contemporaries such as Eric Ravilious and Stanley Spencer Paintings from Zinkeisen's time as a war artist are held by the Red Cross museum and archives, the museum of the Order of St John and the Imperial War Museum. Her work was part of the painting event in the art competition at the 1948 Summer Olympics. After the war, Zinkeisen continued to work in London as a theatrical designer and held occasional exhibitions of her paintings. She designed the cover of a special edition of Everybody's Magazine to celebrate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in June 1953. In 1954, Zinkeisen designed the scenery and costumes for Noël Coward's musical, After the Ball, based on Oscar Wilde's play, Lady Windermere's Fan, and the Prince Littler directed play, The Little Glass Clock, written by Hugh Mills. Zinkeisen married Edward Grahame Johnstone, a naval officer in 1927 and had twin daughters in June 1928, the children's book illustrators Janet and Anne Grahame Johnstone and a son, Murray Johnstone. Zinkeisen was a fine horsewoman and won the Moscow Cup at the International Horse Show in 1934. Grahame Johnstone died in 1946 and Zinkeisen's twin girls then lived with their mother moving with her to Suffolk in 1966. Zinkeisen outlived her daughter Janet who died in an accident in 1979. Doris Zinkeisen died on 3 January 1991, in Badingham, Suffolk, aged 92. Exhibited: Royal Academy 9, Royal Scottish Academy 7, Glasgow Institute 1, Society of Women Artists 3, Royal Hibernian Academy 1 and Paris Salon.
  • Creator:
    Doris Zinkeisen (1898 - 1991, British)
  • Creation Year:
    Circa 1940
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 27 in (68.58 cm)Width: 31 in (78.74 cm)Depth: 2 in (5.08 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    London, GB
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU853116529942

More From This Seller

View All
Portrait of a Family in an Interior - British 1950's art oil painting
By Charles Ernest Cundall
Located in London, GB
This interesting British Post Impressionist figurative interior oil painting is by noted artist Charles Cundall and entitled A Conversation Piece. Painted circa 1955 the composition is the interior of a living room with a couple and their two young children, cat and dog. It is full of fascinating details such as the display of porcelain figures in the wall unit, The wonky lampshade on the piano with lovely reflections in its metal base, the slightly shabby walls, the two inviting open doors to other rooms, the way the whole family are looking at the dog (of course!) as it eyes up the tray of tea. Perhaps the dog is in fact the conversation piece of the family and life revolves around him the way the painting does. Is it the artist's family? An excellent example of Cundall's work and life with a dog. Signed lower right. Provenance. Gallery label verso. Condition. Oil on canvas, image size is 30 inches by 25 inches and in good condition. Frame. Housed in a gallery frame, 39 inches by 34 inches framed and in good condition. Charles Cundall (1890-1971) - painter, potter and stained glass artist, born in Stratford, Lancashire. After working as a designer for Pilkington's Pottery Company under Gordon Forsyth...
Category

1950s Post-Impressionist Interior Paintings

Materials

Oil

Woolworths, Sutton, London - British figurative shop interior art oil painting
Located in London, GB
This fantastic British 1940's figurative interior oil painting is by noted artist Leonard Fuller. Painted circa 1940, the colourful composition is looking into a busy Woolworths stor...
Category

1940s Realist Interior Paintings

Materials

Oil

Violinist in an Interior - British Impressionist 19thC art musical oil painting
Located in London, GB
This superb British Impressionist 19th century oil painting is by noted artist William Christian Symons. Painted circa 1880 it is a figurative interior composition of a musical event...
Category

1880s Impressionist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

The Serving - British Old Master 18th century oil painting historical interior
By (Circle of) William Hogarth
Located in London, GB
A superb British Old Master oil painting which is attributed to circle of William Hogarth and was painted circa 1760. This fine oil painting is in ...
Category

18th Century Old Masters Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

Children in School Room Interior - British Victorian Newlyn School oil painting
Located in London, GB
This superb, large British Victorian oil painting is by noted Newlyn and Menton artist Arthur Alfred Burrington. It was painted circa 1890 when Burrington was most likely in Newlyn, ...
Category

1890s Victorian Interior Paintings

Materials

Oil

Cornish Family in an Interior - British 1912 Newlyn School art oil painting
By Harold Harvey
Located in London, GB
This superb British figurative interior oil painting is by noted Newlyn school artist Harold Harvey. Painted circa 1912 the composition is a Cornish family, bathed in golden light, s...
Category

1910s Realist Interior Paintings

Materials

Oil

You May Also Like

Post Impressionist Bar Scene, Le Cafe du Commerce, Oil on Board
Located in Cotignac, FR
Early 20th Century oil on board interior bar scene by Simon Joseph Simon-Auguste. The painting is signed bottom right and presented in a fine gilt carved wood Montparnasse frame. The...
Category

Mid-20th Century Post-Impressionist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil

Looking at the World
By Paula Craioveanu
Located in Santa Monica, CA
Oil on canvas
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Fauvist Interior Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Looking at the World
$3,040 Sale Price
20% Off
Ecole de Paris, Post Impressionist Portrait of a Mother and Child
Located in Cotignac, FR
Mid 20th Century oil on canvas portrait of a mother and child by the noted Franco Spanish artist Pere Modesto Luis Creixams. The painting is signed bottom left and presented in a very fine patinated wood frame. This vibrant painting portrays an intimate moment between a mother and her child, capturing the depth of their bond. Creixams employs a dynamic palette of blues, greens, and warm earthy tones, creating a harmonious contrast that emphasizes the tenderness of their connection. The mother, clad in a vivid, multi-hued garment, appears to be in motion, her gentle gaze focused intently on the child cradled in her arms. The child, painted with delicate brushstrokes, mirrors her affectionate expression. The background features abstract floral and geometric shapes, adding depth and complexity. The expressive use of brushwork and colour conveys emotion, movement, and warmth. This painting stands as a timeless celebration of maternal love and the nuances of human emotion. Its captivating composition invites viewers to engage with the serene yet dynamic energy of the scene. Pere Créixams (9 November 1893 – 1965) was a Spanish painter and illustrator. A figurative and self-taught painter, his work reflects both the sources of the School of Paris and Catalan painting. Throughout his life, he divided his time, between Spain, his native country, and France, his adopted country. Pere Créixams began his studies at the Escuela Moderna (the Modern School). He travelled in 1917 to Paris, in Montparnasse. He made his debut with François Bernouard, at La Belle Édition in 1917. The meeting with the writer Florent Fels was decisive. He introduced him to all of intellectual Paris: the poet, art critic and writer André Salmon who nicknamed him Pierre the Printer, the Swiss writer Blaise Cendrars, Max Jacob, André Malraux, Raymond Radiguet, André Salmon and the painter Amedeo Modigliani. Creixams continued his art under the advice of the painter Othon Friesz and it was the time of his first successes. He exhibited in 1921 at the Café du Parnasse and at the Galerie Montaigne in Paris. His portraits of women are marked by the style of the illustrious representative of the School of Paris, Amedeo Modigliani. Florent Fels introduced him to the famous Parisian art dealer Paul Guillaume, who was located at 39, rue La Boétie. The latter offered to sign a contract to commit to delivering all his artistic production to him from November 1921 to June 1922. Creixams' paintings are exhibited alongside those of André Derain, Pablo Picasso, Maurice de Vlaminck, Henri Matisse and Amedeo Modigliani... Subsequently, Creixams worked with the gallery owner Pierre Loeb with whom he signed a contract in 1925. Located at the corner of Rue de Seine and Rue des Beaux-Arts, the famous Pierre Gallery which, from 1927 to 1963, represented many artists who marked the twentieth century (Braque, Klee, Chirico, Derain, Dufy, Gromaire, Léger, Miro, Pascin, Picasso, Soutine, Masson, Man Ray...) In painting, he turned to his Spanish ancestors, El Greco, Francisco de Goya, Diego Velázquez in order to affirm their artistic heritage. His admiration for Pablo Picasso was also felt in his production of the 1920s and he learned the lesson of the painter of the poor, the acrobats and the guitarists. From 1922, he settled in Montmartre and frequented the former members of the Bateau-Lavoir such as Pablo Picasso, Max Jacob, André Salmon. His friends in Florent Fels' literary circle supported him and Creixams then became friends with writers. The painter became an illustrator and collaborated with the writer and publisher duo Pascal Pia and René Bonnel on the unpublished poem by Charles Baudelaire, published from the original manuscript, which he adorned with eight etchings. In 1928, he exhibited at the Salon d'Automne and also took part in the Salon des Indépendants and the Salon des Tuileries. Creixams made a name for itself by exhibiting in Parisian galleries and salons. (Salon des Indépendants, Salon d'Automne, Salon des Tuileries). In Paris, he befriended Catalan artists, like him exiled, or staying in the French capital, such as Joaquín Torres García, Eugenio d'Ors and Joan Miró. In Barcelona, in the same way, Creixams maintained friendships. His meeting with the critic and painter Rafael Benet opened the doors to the Barcelona artistic world. Creixams was a total success: he was presented in the city's avant-garde galleries, in salons and his works attracted the eye of collectors (Galeríe Dalmau, Sala Parés, Syra Art Galleries). He exhibits his works regularly at the Exposició de Primavera [Spring Exhibition], Saló de Montjuïc. Creixams' painting was first inspired by the Catalan noucentista. This movement, which began around 1906 and lasted until the beginning of the civil war in 1936, was artistic and political and proposed a renewal of society. Eugenio d'Ors, the theoretician of this new aesthetic, wanted an artistic regeneration in Catalonia. Then Creixams quickly evolved towards a popular and direct realism claimed by the new generation of artists called Generació del 17. His landscapes are very constructed, geometrized, the result of a great admiration for Paul Cézanne. Creixams' attachment to his country was manifested in regular visits to Catalonia throughout his life. The summer period was privileged and the small fishing village of Tossa de Mar welcomed the artist during many stays. These returns to Catalonia bring Creixams a new inspiration and a more personal style. Tossa, a haven of peace and a site of great beauty, became a real artistic and intellectual centre under his leadership. Creixams and Benet brought with them their Catalan friends: Emili Bosch Roger, Francesc Camps Ribera, Josep Gausachs, Francesc Domingo, Josep Mompou, Manuel Humbert, Emili Grau Sala, Enric Casanovas. But the attraction went beyond the Catalan borders thanks to the knowledge of the artist who invited his Parisian friends, writers, led by Florent Fels, Georges Charensol, Georges Duthuit and artists such as Albert Marquet, Roger Wild, Georges Kars and Marc Chagall. After spending the summer of 1934 in Tossa in the company of many artists, Creixams did not return to Paris and remained in Catalonia until 1937. In fact, he was appointed professor at the Escola Superior de Paisatge d'Olot. Then came the year 1937, marking a historical and political turning point for Catalonia and Spain. Creixams is artistically committed to the Republicans. It was at that time that the Catalan government chose him to illustrate a propaganda work published by the Commissariat de Propaganda de la Generalitat. He experienced the first armed clashes in Barcelona, but finally, as the situation deteriorated, he returned to live in Paris on February 20, 1937. He left Catalonia in the middle of the civil war and only returned after an eleven-year exile. Following his committed drawings, in 1939 he produced canvases illustrating the Retirada depicting the flight to France of thousands of Spanish Republicans. This return to France, during the Second World War, and the period of the Occupation were difficult. But Montmartre once again welcomed him with open arms and Creixams met up with his friends from the Butte, writers, painters and songwriters. He then became an essential figure in Montmartre alongside Marcel Aymé, Pierre Mac-Orlan, Gen Paul among others. The traditional party atmosphere that reigns in Montmartre suits the bon vivant character of Creixams perfectly. The distance from his native country for several years resulted in a painting with deep Spanish accents. Creixams,in 1938, again participated in the various Parisian salons. In addition, he exhibits as a Montmartre artist in group exhibitions but also alongside his Catalan compatriots. Regular solo exhibitions are devoted to him by Parisian galleries. (Delpierre Gallery, Petridès Gallery, Élysée Gallery, Charpentier Gallery...) Around 1940, Creixams met Nana de Herrera (1905-1991) and from their love was born a child, Ramon de Herrera. Nana de Herrera, a major figure in Parisian social life during the Roaring Twenties, is a Spanish classical ballet dancer. She was the model for Max Ponty for his design of the famous Gitanes cigarette packet (from the Seita). She also played a few film roles, both before and after the war. It is famous, among other things, for the portrait made by Tamara de Lempicka...
Category

Mid-20th Century Post-Impressionist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

“Lettura” olio cm.70 x62
By Georgij Moroz
Located in Torino, IT
Interno con figura di bambino che legge. Colori delicati Luminoso
Category

Early 2000s Post-Impressionist Interior Paintings

Materials

Oil

“Lettura” olio cm.70 x62
$7,576 Sale Price
20% Off
Free Shipping
Red Couch, Black Cat - Contemporary Fauvist Interior Scene in Primary Colors
By Jonathan Taylor
Located in Soquel, CA
Fun and colorful contemporary Fauvist interior scene of a black cat lounging on a red couch in a brightly hued room in primary colors, by Jonathan Taylor (American, b.1966). Signed "J. Taylor" in bottom right. Displayed in a giltwood frame. Image size: 19.5" H X 23.5" W. Artist Jonathan Taylor was born in 1966 and was raised in Bar Harbor Maine...
Category

2010s Fauvist Interior Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil, Cardboard

"Interior Scene of Woman in Paris" Post-Impressionism Oil Painting on Canvas
By Jacques Zucker
Located in New York, NY
This painting depicts an interior scene of a woman seated at an apartment in Paris with a window that overlooks the city and an iconic church with the artist's reflection in the armo...
Category

20th Century Post-Impressionist Interior Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil