Louisa Puller (1884-1963) was a British artist who contributed works to both the

Recording Britain The Pilgrim Trust is an independent charitable grant-making trust in the United Kingdom. The Trust's aims are to improve the life chances of the most vulnerable and preserve the best of the past for the public to enjoy. The Trust awards approxima ...

scheme and to the

War Artists' Advisory Committee The War Artists' Advisory Committee (WAAC), was a British government agency established within the Ministry of Information at the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 and headed by Sir Kenneth Clark. Its aim was to compile a comprehensive artis ...

during the Second World War.

Biography

Puller travelled widely throughout England during World War Two on behalf of Recording Britain, depicting the impact of war in at least nine different counties and was among the most prolific artists employed by the scheme. For Recording Britain, Puller was sent at short notice to the village of

Sudbourne Sudbourne is a village and civil parish in Suffolk, England, located approximately north of Orford, Suffolk, Orford. All Saints' Church dates from the 14th century but was much restored in 1879. It is a grade II* listed building. Between 964 ...

in Suffolk, arriving just hours before it was appropriated for tank training by the British Army and the local population departed. Her other contributions included six studies of

Tetbury Tetbury is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish inside the Cotswold (district), Cotswold district in Gloucestershire, England. It lies on the site of an ancient hill fort, on which an Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon monastery was found ...

in Gloucestershire. The War Artists' Advisory Committee, WAAC, purchased two watercolours by Puller of bomb damage in the City of London. Her work for Recording Britain is now part of the collection of the

Victoria & Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...

, while the

Imperial War Museum The Imperial War Museum (IWM), currently branded "Imperial War Museums", is a British national museum. It is headquartered in London, with five branches in England. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, it was intended to record the civ ...

holds the paintings purchased from her by WAAC. Puller appears to have been an amateur artist, with no record of having a professional artistic career. In 1913 she was living in

Elsecar Elsecar (, ) is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley in South Yorkshire, England. It is near to Jump, South Yorkshire, Jump and Wentworth, South Yorkshire, Wentworth, it is also south of Hoyland, south of Barnsley and north-east ...

near

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

and in 1926 she designed a number of panels for an illustrated, limited edition book about Wilthamstow and Highham. In 1940 Puller had one work shown in a Royal Academy exhibition and appeared to be living in London at that time.

References

External links

Works by Puller in the Victoria & Albert Museum

Works held by the Imperial War Museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Puller, Louisa 1884 births 1963 deaths 20th-century English painters English war artists 20th-century British women painters World War II artists 20th-century British war artists 20th-century English women painters