Shell postcard with suffragettes women 'Every Lady Votes Shell Motor Spirit', 1908

Mary Kessell

29 May 2018

In 2018, to mark the centenary of 'Votes for Women,' the Shell Heritage Art Collection highlights female artists who led change in commercial and fine art. These women helped to create change within their industry and society as a whole. Their work reflects the fight for women's suffrage led by another group of strong, inspiring women known as the Suffragettes.

Discover the work of Mary Kessell.

Mary Kessell painting a mural for Shell BP Pavillion in 1938. Credit Illustrated London News Ltd Mary Evans

Born in London, Mary studied at Central School of Art from 1935-37 (at that time known as Clapham School of Art) then went on to the Central School of Arts and Crafts from 1937-39. This photograph from ‘The Sketch’ weekly journal in March 1938 shows Mary working on a mural painting for the Shell BP Pavilion at the Empire Exhibition in Glasgow, so we can see she had an association with Shell from an early stage of her career. The innovative policy to commission emerging artists rather than graphic designers for the Shell poster series and other commercial work was created by Jack Beddington, Publicity Manager of Shell at the time. He was credited with making Shell a patron of the arts by supporting the early careers of fine artists through providing paid, commercial work.

In her career Mary worked across disciplines as a painter, book illustrator, designer and like many other Shell artists, as a war artist. She was one of only three female war artists selected and became known for her charcoal drawings of war refugees, mostly women and children and survivors of the concentration camps.

Painting 'Arlington Row, Bibury' by Mary Kessell, 1952, part of the 'You Can Be Sure Of Shell' advertising campaign

Post war Mary was commissioned to create experimental designs for hand and machine embroidery work for the Needlework Development Scheme with the aim to initiate a new standard for British embroidery design.

Shell commissioned Mary to paint the landscape Arlington Row, Bibury for their 1952 poster and she went on to design the 1964 poster ‘Kew Gardens’ for London Transport too.

Mary lectured in drawing at the London School of Printing from 1957 and also the Central School where she worked alongside the painter Richard Hamilton.

In 1966 Mary married the designer Tom Eckersley who had, in the late 1930s, also produced posters for Shell in collaboration with Eric Lombers.

The Imperial War Museum, Tate and Victoria and Albert Museum all hold works by Mary Kessell in their collections.