Evan Charlton

Charlton died in Porthkerry, South Glamorgan, where he had lived for several years. A memorial exhibition of his work was held at the National Museum of Wales in Cardiff in 1985. Cardiff Metropolitan University, the successor of Cardiff School of Art, issues the Evan and Felicity Charlton Travel Award annually, in memory of Charlton and his wife, the artist Felicity Charlton.

In about 1945 Charlton was appointed Her Majesty's Inspector of Art for Wales, inspecting art colleges. In 1962 he was appointed Staff Inspector of Art, with his remit covering all the art colleges in England and Wales. He retired from the Civil Service in 1964.

In 1935 Charlton took a teaching post at the West of England College of Art in Bristol. While at Bristol he met his wife Felicity, who was a student at the college. He left Bristol in 1938 when he was appointed the Head of the Cardiff School of Art. He appointed Ceri Richards as Head of Painting there in 1940.

Charlton's brother George, who was five years older, was a teacher at the Slade School of Art in London. Evan Charlton was thinking of becoming a teacher, and while waiting for a place in a teacher training college his brother invited him to spend the summer drawing and painting at the Slade. One of his paintings won the Slade Prize and won him entry to a course at the college, where he studied from 1930 and 1933. His teachers at the college included Henry Tonks, Philip Wilson Steer and Randolph Schwabe.

Charlton painted in a realistic style, and is known for invented landscapes and interiors with a surrealist atmosphere. During his years as an art school inspector he painted privately for himself, isolated from the criticism of the contemporary art world and its preference for abstract and semi-abstract styles. As with many realistic artists of the period, he was influenced by de Chirico, whose work had been exhibited in London in 1928, and the perspectives and architecture in Charlton's work show this influence. Charlton was also influenced by Leonardo and by the old masters in the National Gallery, following their conventions of perspective and composition, with a figure often placed at the golden section.

Charlton, whose mother was Welsh, was born in London. He studied chemistry at University College, London, where he graduated in 1926. He worked for some time as an analyst for London County Council.

Evan Charlton (1904–1984) was a British artist who painted surrealist landscapes and interiors.