Terence Cuneo

Terence Tenison Cuneo RGI FGRA (1 November 1907 – 3 January 1996) was a prolific English painter noted for his scenes of railways, horses and military actions. He was also the official artist for the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. Life and work Terence Cuneo was born in London, the son of Cyrus Cincinato Cuneo (1879–1916) and Nell Marion Tenison (1881–1964), artists who met while studying with Whistler in Paris. Cyrus Cuneo's elder brother Rinaldo Cuneo was also an acclaimed painter in San Francisco, as was his youngest brother Egisto Cuneo. Terence Cuneo studied at Sutton Valence School in Kent, Chelsea Polytechnic and the Slade School of Art, before working as an illustrator for magazines, books and periodicals. In 1936 he started working in oils, continuing with his illustration work. During World War II he served as a sapper in the Royal Engineers but also completed a small number of commissions for the War Artists' Advisory Committee, providing illustrations of tank and aircraft factories. He served and became good friends with fellow artist Cyril Parfitt. Also during the War, Cuneo was commissioned by the Foreign Office to produce anti-Nazi drawings and cartoons and an exhibition of his war works was held at the Palaquin Fine Arts gallery in 1942. After the war, Cuneo was commissioned to produce a series of works illustrating railways, bridges and locomotives. A significant point in his career was his appointment as official artist for the Coronation of Elizabeth II, which brought his name before the public worldwide. He received more commissions from industry, which included depicting manufacturing, mineral extraction and road building, including the M1. He was most famous for his paintings of engineering subjects, particularly locomotives and the railway as a whole. But in fact Cuneo painted over a wide range, from big game in Africa to landscapes. Further success was achieved in his regimental commissions, battle scenes and incidents as well as portraits (including H.M. the Queen, and Field Marshal Montgomery). From 1954 his works included a small mouse, sometimes lifelike, sometimes cartoonish. These became his trademark after 1956. They can be difficult to detect, and many people enjoy scouring his paintings to find one. Even some of his portraits of the famous contain a mouse.