Lewis Morland Art

Lewis Morland 12 August 1920 - 22 March 1989, was a British artist, designer, and illustrator whose career spanned a transformative chapter in the cultural history of Bahrain.

Three decades of his work covers every aspect from portraiture and landscape oil paintings, graphic design and publication production, reportage drawings and cartoons, to museum commissions and stamp design. He helped define the emerging visual identity of Bahrain during the latter half of the 20th century.

Lewis was the first and only academic artist working in the Gulf for many years, and his contribution to the country's cultural transition into the modern era is impressive. Of his many achievements, he was very proud of his involvement in the first Government scholarship programme to develop young talented Bahraini artists. His work, and influence can be found everywhere in the nations cultural history.

Lewis’ journey began in London, where he studied fine art at St Martin’s School of Art, now Central Saint Martins at the University of the Arts London.

LEWIS MORLAND

1920-1989

ARTIST

About

At the outbreak of World War II, he joined the Royal Air Force and was assigned to a specialist unit developing RADAR mapping, before seeing active service in North Africa. Here he was inspired by the quality of the sun's light, and developed his lifelong passion for the vivid colours of the desert landscapes.

After the war he joined the art departments of two UK national newspapers, The Telegraph and then The Observer, before being appointed Art Editor at the Sunday Pictorial (later The Sunday Mirror).

Throughout his life Lewis contributed both articles and illustrations to major UK national publications and magazines including Punch.

In 1957, Lewis Morland’s life took a decisive turn when he was recruited to Bahrain to work for BAPCO, the oil company subsidiary of Caltex, as part of a small team tasked with helping develop and modernise the local printing industry.

And in 1962 he was invited to work directly for the the newly crowned Amir His Highness Shaikh Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa. Over the next three decades he was the most significantly influential artist working in the region, immortalising the national identity through fine art.

In 1965–66 he designed Bahrain’s Definitive Stamps.
In 1966–67 he designed the Definitive Stamps of Oman.
In 1967 Lewis painted the first ever pictorial map of Bahrain.
In 1968-71 he designed the further commemorative stamp issues, including the inauguration of Isa Town, and commemorating Bahrain becoming a member of the United Nations.
In 1969 he produced and edited Gulf Jet, a groundbreaking monthly publication for BOAC. This gulf-wide tabloid was the first of its kind - a dedicated English language publication aimed at promoting the airline directly to expatriate and regional audiences. The publication ran for over five years becoming Jet News when BOAC became British Airways.
In 1971 he began drawing a weekly social commentary cartoon for The Gulf Mirror, the first English Language Newspaper in the region. In 1974 a compilation of these cartoons was published as a book titled 'Lewis Looks'.
Proving the popularity of his comical take on expat life, his weekly cartoons continued in the The Gulf Daily News established in 1978. These were published into a compilation book named 'Bahrain Laughs' in 1985.
In 1976 he launched AAA the first dedicated graphic design studio in the Gulf, pioneering a profession that previously did not exist in the Gulf region. Servicing major clients from Hilton Hotels International to the Governments of Qatar and Kuwait.
In 1981 he produced and illustrated Bahrain's first Highway Code Book for the Ministry of the Interior, Traffic and Licensing Directorate.
Later that year Lewis became Bahrain's official artist, accredited to record and document the first Gulf Co-operation Council Summit in Abu Dhabi. He went on to record subsequent summits in Bahrain and Qatar generating hundreds of drawings of both the Gulf leaders during their meetings, but also of the international press corps who reported the summits.
1982 a major retrospective exhibition of Lewis' paintings spanning two decades of work was hosted by the Bahrain Ministry of Information.
In 1986 Lewis embarked on the first of two major expeditions into the interior of Oman. Retracing the journey he had made 20 years earlier, in 1965, to paint the Portuguese Forts of Oman, featured on the Definitive Stamps. These 'safaris' generated 300 wonderful drawings of the landscape and people of Oman.
In 1987 he was commissioned to create a series of six murals for the Bahrain National Museum. The first two were completed in time for the museum’s inauguration in 1988, a crowning achievement in a career dedicated to shaping the visual culture of a rapidly changing region.

Lewis Morland passed away on 22 March 1989. His legacy endures not only in the stamps, cartoons, reportage drawings, and publications he left behind, but also in his many oil paintings and drawings, that continue to resonate in Bahrain and beyond. His life’s work offers collectors and art historians an invaluable bridge to the past. Where he influenced, and documented the cultural boom of the modern Gulf States through his catalogue.

Lewis Morland Art

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