Artist: Terence Cuneo

Terence Cuneo CVO,OBE Born 1st November 1907 , Died 3rd January 1996. Terence Cuneo was not only one of the worlds greatest military painters, he also one of the top railway artists as well. Terence Cuneo was also the official artist for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. Terence Cuneo was born in London on November 1st 1907. His parents Cyrus and Nell were both artists who met while studying with Whistler in Paris. Terence Cuneo studied at the Chelsea Polytechnic and Slade School of Art. He became an illustrator for a number of magazines and book publishers. During World War Two Terence Cuneo joined the army and became a sapper but also worked with the War Artists Advisory Committee, and in this role he produced illustrations of various factories during wartime and other wartime events. Soon after the end of the war Terence Cuneo was commissioned to produce a series of paintings of railways and their locomotives. And this was followed by being appointed the official artist for the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, which helped promote Terence Cuneo to a worldwide audience and a number of major commissions followed. (An interesting trademark Cuneo painted in his paintings is a little mouse.) A major part of his paintings were commissioned by various British regiments and many of these terrific paintings are shown here In 1994 Cranston Fine Arts approached Terrence Cuneo to reproduce a number of these historical art paintings and with his consent and the consent of the regiments involved a total of 800 of each print was re produced. Sadly in 1996 Terence Cuneo passed away, but he has left us with a fantastic collection of fine paintings of military history and steam locomotive paintings, which are collected around the world and are very sought after. Terence Cuneo was admired and respected by his peers and public and a large bronze memorial statue of Terence Cuneo by Philip Jackson stands in the concourse of Waterloo Station in London.