John Whitlock Codner (1913-2008) – Early Summer Flowers, South Devon

Description

John Codner worked as a painter specialising in portraits and still life oil paintings. His father was the eminent society painter Maurice Codner whose coterie of friends included well-known artists of the period like Sir Alfred Munnings and Augustus John. Educated at the exclusive St. Edward’s School, Oxford, John Codner was encouraged to follow in his father’s footsteps, studying art at Regent Street Polytechnic School of Art from 1930-1932 under the tutelage of Harry Watson (1871-1936). Early in his career John worked as a commercial artist providing advertising illustrations for Golden Shred and Cunard Line as well as numerous biscuit tin designs. In 1938 his portrait of Edgar Battle was included in the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, and in order to distinguish himself from his father he exhibited his work under the name John Whitlock. Around this time, he relocated to Bristol where he became involved with the Bristol Savages – an artistic society that exhibits annually at the Red Lodge – where he quickly established a reputation as their foremost portrait painter. During the Second World War, his artistic talent caught the attention of the Middle East Command Camouflage Directorate led by the film director Geoffrey Barkas. Initially based in Egypt, the unit was involved in attempting to camouflage and disguise vital resources with limited materials during the Siege of Tobruk. John recalled the experience in 2005:

Well, we couldn’t hide very much, though we found all sorts of materials. There were curtains and all kinds of curious bits and pieces which we could use up to a point. We couldn’t actually hide anything really. It was just like a white ball on a green billiard table. It was almost impossible… [Peter] Proud found a whole lot of condemned Italian coffee which he mixed with water and flung on light coloured sheets, which were too light to look like sand. So, he had to flick on this coffee to bring it down to the sand colour. The sand, it was good earth really. We didn’t have paint at that stage. We just used what we could with this coffee stuff.

Throughout the war, John continued to exhibit at the Royal Academy with eight works being shown from 1939 to 1945 – including a portrait of the illustrator and theatre designer Maise Meiklejohn (housemate of Mary Fedden). After the war he took a teaching position at the Sir John Cass School of Art in London from 1947 until 1951, maintaining links with Bristol where he was elected to member status of the Royal West of England Academy in 1947. In 1975 John was commissioned by Gloucester City Council to paint a portrait of Henry Somerset, 10th Duke of Beaufort in commemoration of the Duke’s 50th anniversary as Lord High Steward for Gloucester.

John Codner’s work can be found in numerous public and private collections including the Government Art Collection, Royal West of England Academy, Bristol Museum & Art Gallery, Museum of Gloucester, Tynwald, Essex County Council, Merchants Hall, Bath Spa University, University of Bristol, University Hospitals Bristol, and Southmead Hospital.