Brenda Rawnsley
David Elyan writes: When in 1971 Brenda Rawnsley (obituary July 4) wrote to the Hon David Astor, then Editor of The Observer, asking if the newspaper might be interested in purchasing her print publishing business, the letter eventually found its way to me. It would have been both easy and sensible to reply that we were not interested, but something made me contact Mrs Rawnsley. Even as I was about to ring her doorbell in Motcomb Street, I wondered what I was doing there.
An hour or so later Brenda asked if I would like to see her framing operation. Not wishing to appear ungrateful for her liquid hospitality, I agreed. On enquiring about some parcels in a corner, I was told: “Oh, those are our French prints by artists such as Braque and Picasso. They didn’t sell very well. In fact, I have probably had to throw away more than I sold because they got stained as a result of a leaking roof.” Fascinated by what I was hearing, I returned to the flat above the gallery where Brenda told me about the trip to France in 1948 to track down a handful of leading French artists and persuade them to produce prints for sale to schools in England. The story had never been written about and there were many photographs taken on the visit.
The following day I recounted Brenda’s story to my colleague, Patrick Seale, who determined that The Observer must publish the story and offer to sell the remaining prints to our readers. What Brenda had been unable to sell at £1 each, we offered at £15 each. Within a few weeks we had sold the lot and I believe Brenda received as much from the sale of these prints as she was expecting from the sale of the business, including the lease and her entire stock.
She and I later collaborated in writing The Story of School Prints (1990). We last met in March when we toured the Pallant House gallery’s school prints exhibition. She was so alive and alert for her 90 years.