Joseph Henry Lynch (1911 –1989) was a British artist who achieved fame through mass consumer sales of prints of his paintings of sultry women, especially Tina (1964) which were particularly popular on sitting room walls in the 1960s. Other instantly recognisable images that he created include Nymph, Woodland Goddess and Autumn Leaves. Still more favourites were Tanya, Lisa, Rose, Zena and Tara. Many of his prints were sold through Boots. He signed as J.H. Lynch. It is widely believed that he used the archetypal model of the 1960s, Jean Shrimpton, as the inspiration for his paintings.
Of the artist himself he remains something of a mystery as very little is known about him. One rumour was that he was actually a She, a New Zealand nun called Julia Lynch. Another suggests he was a Mexican artist Jesus Helguera who paints in a somewhat similar style. But both ideas are discounted by Mario Klingemann who runs a website dedicated to the artist called jhlynch.org.
A further mystery is that so far as is known, his original paintings have never been sold at auction and their whereabouts is completely unknown. What we do have, however, is a legacy of framed prints published in the 1960s and chiefly sold through Boots and other similar retailers. These have now achieved something of a cult following and are widely collected. Sales by dealers mostly through Ebay suggest that Tina is the most sought after image, selling for about £140-175 if in good condition and in its original frame. Nymph tends to sell for about £100 retail. Posters of his work, sold as reprints for example through Amazon are much cheaper and can typically be acquired for about £11.99.
JH Lynch watchers also like to point out that some of his portraits appear on the walls of Stanley Kubrick’s domestic interiors in the film “A Clockwork Orange”.
J H Lynch prints for sale on Ebay
J H Lynch prints for sale on Amazon
Most popular images created by J H Lynch include Tina - Tanya - Tara - Water Nymph - Woodland Goddess - Autumn Leaves - Lisa Rose - Zena - Carmen. Check to see how many of these you can find on the web, starting with Google Images.
Artismus247
January 2020
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More about J H Lynch (with acknowledgement to Homes & Antiques:
The stand-out stars of the kitsch craze in its current incarnation are the instantly-recognisable retro prints of the artist JH Lynch, in particular the exotic Tina (above). Reproductions of his sultry paintings graced many a 1960s and 1970s wall. Yet, while his works were produced worldwide and sold in their hundreds of thousands, JH Lynch remains something of a shadowy figure.
Known to have been painted in 1961, Tina went on sale in Boots in 1964 and enjoyed instant success. You can still find versions of it in the original gilt frame and glass with the Boots Framing Department tag or, more commonly, in a cream frame. The former will have more value.
Such widespread reknown for a painting was and is a staggering achievement for any artist, yet to this day not much is known about the late Joseph Henry Lynch or his paintings. He was a British artist born in October 1911 who mainly painted glamorous female subjects with exotic names to match, the most famous being Tina, Nymph, Woodland Goddess, Tanya, Lisa and Autumn Leaves. It is thought that the model for many of these was Alexandra Moyens, winner of the Daily Express 1955 ‘Most Beautiful Teenager in Great Britain’ award. His other works include subjects as diverse from this as views of the French town of Annecy, a portrait of Sir Winston Churchill, and a scene showing a traction engine with a dark industrial feel (top).
As Lynch’s work became increasingly mass-produced, his success turned into his downfall as people hunted for new work and original looks. As his art fell from favour, prints of Tina and its companions were considered worthless and were disposed of as tastes inevitably changed. Indeed, Lynch himself played an active role in this. Towards the end of his life he destroyed many of his original paintings or donated them to charity.
Of course, the endless circle of fashion comes around and these brooding beauties are once more being appreciated – though they are less readily available now.