Laurence Scarfe
Laurence Scarfe was a British artist and designer, active in the twentieth century.His work
Laurence Scarfe was born in Idle, Yorkshire in 1914. He attended Shipley School of Art and later moved to London. From 1933 to 1937 he studied painting at the Royal College of Art. He worked with several visual disciplines including book and magazine illustration, poster and wallpaper design, mural painting, fine art and ceramic decoration. Not only was he a renowned artist but he also worked in teaching. After completing his education he went straight into part time teaching at the Bromley School of Art and Central School of Art . He taught in the history of illustration and graphic design before he retired from teaching in 1980.
From 1947 until 1969 he travelled through Europe, which is believed to have influenced his ideas on painting. His work has been exhibited at the Leicester Galleries, Redfern Gallery, Zwemmer Galleries, New Burlington Gallery, Victoria and Albert Museum, Royal Academy, Society of Watercolour Painters, Orleans House Chiswick. His work is shown in public collections at Imperial War Museum, Government Art Collection, Victoria and Albert Museum, Royal Institute of British Architects, Ministry of Works, University of Warwick Collection, Graves Art Gallery, Bradford Art Gallery, Brighton Museum, Museum of Domestic Design and architecture and the Tate.
Laurence Scarfe is mostly known for his mural paintings. In 1937 he did mural work for the British Pavilion at the Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne, then the Books & Printing section at the Britain Can Make It Exhibition in 1946 and at the British Industries Fair in 1948. He also created mural paintings for Regatta Restaurant and the Dome of Discovery at the Festival of Britain exhibition. He was a fellow of the Society of Industrial Artist and Designers as well as a member of the Society of Mural Painters
In the 1960s he created a collection of wallpapers. A number of his wallpapers is exhibited to the public at the Museum of Domestic Design and Architecture, Middlesex University in London
