Martin Battersby: The Art of Deception

About the book

The first major biography to examine the life and career of Martin Battersby (1914-1982), a forgotten yet significant artist of the twentieth century

A polymath whose career covered numerous disciplines, Martin Battersby worked in many roles including theatre designer, muralist and fine artist, textile and costume designer, interior decorator, and collector and connoisseur of the decorative arts. This book follows his life as the son of a North London pawnbroker who went on to work with many tastemakers of the time including Rex Whistler, Bunny Roger, Arthur Jeffress, Lotte Reiniger, and Cecil Beaton. With limited training and education, Battersby built his own career as an artist, creating artworks for Paul Mellon, Evelyn Waugh, Princess Radziwill and Lady Diana Cooper. By the mid-twentieth century he was recognised as Britain's most distinguished trompe l'oeil artist.

Drawing from scrapbooks kept throughout the artist's life, Martin Pel seeks to reinstate Battersby and his contributions to the arts. Living as a young queer man in the twentieth century, he sought refuge through the art of the past, rejecting the contemporary artistic world that valued brutality over humanity. He challenged the rise of Modernism and the masculine and visceral artworks of the time through his pursuit of beauty with highly decorative art in imitation of the past masters. In his last years, Battersby immersed himself in the queer leather scenes of London and New York and continued to challenge the art world by producing homo-erotic work. He died at 68, leaving behind a legacy within the decorative arts and becoming a pioneer of queer art and aesthetics.