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THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF PORTRAIT PAINTERS |
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Artist Obituaries
Trevor Stubley RP
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Self Portrait, Michael Reynolds |
For many years a greatly-admired Member of this Society, Michael Reynolds was a painter of blazing integrity. He had a remarkable grasp of the great interweaving movements in the history of painting and drawing, and a wonderfully thorough technical knowledge. His work is in important collections, including the National Portrait Gallery and the Royal Collection, and he helped initiate The Discerning Eye open competition.
A gifted draughtsman and a painter of admirable quality, who worked to the highest standards and was never superficial, he believed that many recent movements in art were meretricious, and that almost all the great organisations that make up the present art Establishment had sold out to fallacious vacuities which encouraged theories that had no real content. This may appear to some as a reactionary stance, but he was a man of great liveliness of mind. He was sometimes irascible, and although I almost always rather enjoyed that aspect of his personality it certainly offended some people.
Though not personally ambitious, towards the end of his life he felt under-appreciated in this country. It was partly because of this, and partly because of his health, that he decided to spend his final years in Italy and Holland.
His wife, from whom he was separated, died before he did. His four daughters survive him.
Michael Noakes RP
Link to an Article in the Times Online about Michael Reynolds
JOHN WARD, CBE, RP, NEAC, Hon. PS
(1917 – 2007)
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Self Portrait, John Ward |
“He was a LOVELY man: is invariably the initial response of anyone you ask who knew him. And he was, civilised, genteel, kind and enormously generous with his encouragement of those of us following in his wake. He must have spent time every morning writing in his spidery hand to former students and acolytes: words of wisdom, stressing the sheer joy of painting and how lucky we are; words of praise for something of theirs seen on his travels, “You are painting so well, I am glad. It encourages me to try harder!” and similarly self-deprecating small confidences about the difficulty of achieving financial success, just in case others were downcast about their own exhibitions. In the febrile world of dog eat artistic dog this appeared almost saintly.
Quietly - spoken John may have been, but as his core was a steely determination. On more than one occasion I have witnessed him dominate a prize-giving panel. He would make up his mind at the start then sit and wait through the hours of argy-bargy until the other equally distinguished members of the panel came round to his way of thinking. That they did so quite genuinely, proved the validity of his judgement; that the winners espoused a style of painting not dissimilar to his own was perhaps testament to his teaching and influence.
He stood for beauty. When, during the row about the notorious Sensation exhibition, John was gratuitously insulted by the Secretary of the Royal Academy who declared that there was no point to art that did not change the world, he resigned, and, unlike three of his colleagues, he refused to go back. We at the RP have been enormously privileged to have both him and his lovely portraits amongst us.
P.S. Visit Challock Church in Kent, full of his murals from 1956 and from 1999. A perfect place …. you will see.
Daphne Todd OBE, PPRP, NEAC, Hon. SWA
Link to John Ward's obituary in the Independent
Link to John Ward's obituary in the Telegraph
Link to John Ward's obituary in the Times
Link to John Ward's obituary in the Guardian
Edwin Greenman RP
(1909 – 2003)
Edwin Greenman, painter and teacher: born Beckenham, Kent 21 March 1909; Principal, Sir John Cass School of Art 1951-69; RP 1968; married 1942 Freda Johns (one son); died Epsom, Surrey 19 March 2003. For full obituary..
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