The Man Who Painted His House
A short film about art, labour and devotion by Dr Vicky Mills and Lily Ford.
Who is the man who painted his house?
The man who painted his house is David Parr, a Victorian working-class decorative artist apprenticed to the Cambridge firm F. R. Leach & Sons. Parr worked for leading designers linked to the Arts and Crafts Movement, including William Morris, and in 1886 he saved enough money to buy a .
Parr painstakingly hand painted his modest terraced house in Cambridge inspired by the intricately patterned style of the Arts & Crafts interiors on which he worked during the day.
Synopsis
The film explores Parr's story through observations of the house and its use today, a visit to All Saint's Church where he worked, archival material, and an original score for viola and piano.
The Man Who Painted His House invites a wider conversation about artistic legacy, Parr's overlooked status as an 'art-workman' and the relationship between art and labour in the nineteenth century. It is linked to a British Academy-funded research project led by Dr Mills titled 'Art, Labour and Devotion: Uncovering the Victorian Art-Workman'.
Dr Mills notes that 'in its exploration of the life and work of working-class decorative artist David Parr, The Man Who Painted His House builds on my research into the hidden histories of Victorian art-workmen, critically challenging accounts of Victorian art and design that focus on the ambitions and creations of privileged, wealthy men.'
The musical score is a contemporary classical composition for viola and piano written specially for the project by Richard Uttley.
Discussion
Dr Vicky Mills has gone on to discuss the film on
In the first of two podcasts, filmmakers Vicky Mills and Lily Ford discuss researching aesthetic labour through film and the making of The Man Who Painted His House. In the second episode, Vicky Mills talks to composer Richard Uttley about his approach to creating the film's original soundtrack.