MALLIN, Tom

1927 - 1977

Tom Mather Mallin was born at West Bromwich, Staffordshire on 14 June 1927, son of Clifford Vincent Mallin (1887-5 January 1932), a commercial buyer, and his wife Olive May née Mather (29 May 1895-8 March 1978) who married at West Bromwich in 1919. Tom studied at Birmingham School of Art 1943-1945 and won a scholarship to the Royal Academy Schools but after the Second World War and National Service, decided to study at the short-lived international Anglo-French Art Centre, London where he met his future wife, Muriel Mallin. He earned a living as a Bond Street, London picture restorer, working on 17th and 18th century paintings while producing a prolific output of paintings, drawings, illustrations, prints and sculptures. He married at Paddington, London in 1949, Muriel Grace George, and had two sons Simon, an artist, and Rupert. Tom was an artist, sculptor, novelist, and playwright and, because he was used to working on paintings in particular styles, many of his own paintings betray the influence of those he was restoring at the time, but the works that stood out were those of corners of his home and studio in Suffolk to where they had moved in 1955. His emotional response to his own surroundings freed him from the stylistic restraints of constantly working in the guise of other artists, allowing his own talent to take over. In 1970, he became a full-time writer with five novels published, plays produced in theatres and for radio. Tom Mather Mallin lived at The Oak, 10 Snow Hill, Clare, Suffolk and where he died on 21 December 1977.

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Works by This Artist