Campion Hall, University of Oxford
Archive of sketches and notes by Charles Mahoney for murals in the Chapel at Campion Hall
A small but fascinating archive of notes and drawings by the painter Charles Mahoney (1903-1968), mostly relating to the murals in the Lady Chapel of Campion Hall, subsidised by Evelyn Waugh, and painted in 1942-52. There is also one sketch in the hand of Sir Edwin Lutyens of an early project for the completion of the projected quadrangle of buildings at Campion Hall and Mahoney has drawn details of drapery on the same sheet, rendering it a compelling record of hopes for the future as envisaged at the end of the 1930s. The Master of Campion Hall, Martin D’Arcy SJ (1888-1976) had chosen Mahoney as the mural painter for the Lady Chapel with the advice of Sir John Rothenstein, after Stanley Spencer (the first choice) had proved too disruptive a personality to work in the Hall over a long period. This archive documents not only the evolution of the mural paintings, but also offers valuable sketches and observations of the daily life of the Hall in the 1940s and early 1950s. As such it complements perfectly the substantial holding of Mahoney letters from the same period already in the archives.
