Brendan Neiland

Last updated

Brendan Neiland (born 23 October 1941 in Lichfield, Staffordshire) is an English artist best known for his paintings of reflections in modern city buildings. In 1992 he was elected to the Royal Academy (RA).

Neiland is known for his interpretations of city life. His use of light and pictorial structure, using a spray-gun technique developed at the Royal College of Art, has seen Neiland likened to Georges Braque and Johannes Vermeer. [1] His work is widely exhibited in major museums and galleries worldwide including, in Britain, the Victoria and Albert Museum, The Tate Gallery London, The Collections of the British Council and the Arts Council of Great Britain. He is represented by the Redfern Gallery and has had numerous shows internationally, including at the Galerie Belvedere in Singapore, who represent him in Singapore and the Far East. [2]

In 1998 Neiland was appointed Keeper (Director) of the Royal Academy Schools, and was credited with revitalising what had been a struggling art school. [3] In July 2004 he resigned as Keeper following newspaper reports concerning financial irregularities. Neiland was subsequently expelled from the membership following a vote by Royal Academicians. Neiland is the first artist to be stripped of his membership since James Barry in 1799.

It was reported that Neiland had been contributing his own consultancy earnings and funds he had raised independently towards the operation of the Royal Academy Schools. In doing so Neiland had not observed the budgetary discipline and financial controls required by the organisation. [4] Neiland later said he had set aside the missing money, the fruit of his own fundraising efforts, to protect it from being sucked into a general RA fund. [5] Other commentators speculated that his expulsion was connected to an internal power struggle over the governance of the RA. [6]

Fellow Academician Sir Peter Blake resigned from the Academy in protest at Neiland's expulsion. [7]

Related Research Articles

James Barry (painter) Irish painter

James Barry was an Irish painter, best remembered for his six-part series of paintings entitled The Progress of Human Culture in the Great Room of the Royal Society of Arts in London. Because of his determination to create art according to his own principles rather than those of his patrons, he is also noted for being one of the earliest romantic painters working in Britain, though as an artist few rated him highly until the fully comprehensive 1983 exhibition at the Tate Gallery led to a reassessment of this "notoriously belligerent personality", who emerged as one of the most important Irish artists. He was also notable as a profound influence on William Blake.

Royal Academy of Arts Art institution in London, United Kingdom

The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and appreciation of the visual arts through exhibitions, education and debate.

Bill Woodrow British sculptor

Bill Woodrow is a British sculptor.

Henry Fuseli Swiss-born British painter, draughtsman and writer on art (1741-1825)

Henry Fuseli was a Swiss painter, draughtsman and writer on art who spent much of his life in Britain. Many of his works, such as The Nightmare, deal with supernatural subject matter. He painted works for John Boydell's Shakespeare Gallery, and created his own "Milton Gallery". He held the posts of Professor of Painting and Keeper at the Royal Academy. His style had a considerable influence on many younger British artists, including William Blake.

Peter Blake (artist) English artist

Sir Peter Thomas Blake is an English pop artist, best known for co-creating the sleeve design for the Beatles' album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. His other best known works include the covers for two of The Who's albums, the cover of the Band Aid single "Do They Know It's Christmas?", and the Live Aid concert poster. Blake also designed the 2012 Brit Award statuette.

Thomas Phillips 18th/19th-century English portraitist

Thomas Phillips RA was a leading English portrait and subject painter. He painted many of the great men of the day including scientists, artists, writers, poets and explorers.

Allen Jones is a British pop artist best known for his paintings, sculptures, and lithography. He was awarded the Prix des Jeunes Artistes at the 1963 Paris Biennale. He is a Senior Academician at the Royal Academy of Arts. In 2017 he returned to his home town to receive the award Honorary Doctor of Arts from Southampton Solent University

Robert Smirke (painter) English painter

Robert Smirke was an English painter and illustrator, specialising in small paintings showing subjects taken from literature. He was a member of the Royal Academy.

Sir Charles Robert Saumarez Smith is a British cultural historian specialising in the history of art, design and architecture. He was the Secretary and Chief Executive of the Royal Academy of Arts in London from 2007 until he stepped down in 2018. He was replaced by Axel Rϋger, who took up the position in 2019.

Ruskin Spear, CBE, RA was an English painter and teacher of art, regarded as one of the foremost British portrait painters of his day. Born in Hammersmith, Spear attended the local art school before going on to the Royal College of Art in 1930. He began his teaching career at Croydon School of Art, later teaching at the Royal College of Art from 1948 to 1975, where his students included Sandra Blow. Initially influenced by Walter Sickert, the Camden Town Group, and the portraiture of the Euston Road School, his work often has a narrative quality, with elements of humour and satire. As one of the thirty eight Official War Artists in Britain in the Second World War, between 1942–44, Spear was commissioned by the War Artists' Advisory Committee, under the chairmanship of Kenneth Clark, given a short-term contract, producing several works for the scheme.

William Blake Richmond English painter

Sir William Blake Richmond KCB,, PPRBSA was a British painter, sculptor and a designer of stained glass and mosaic. He is best known for his portrait work and decorative mosaics in St Paul's Cathedral in London.

Norman Rosenthal British independent curator and art historian


Sir Norman Rosenthal is a British independent curator and art historian. From 1970 to 1974 he was Exhibitions Officer at Brighton Museum and Art Gallery. In 1974 he became a curator at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, leaving in 1976. The following year, in 1977, he joined the Royal Academy in London as Exhibitions Secretary where he remained until his resignation in 2008. Rosenthal has been a trustee of numerous different national and international cultural organisations since the 1980s; he is currently on the board of English National Ballet. In 2007, he was awarded a knighthood in the Queen's Birthday Honours List. Rosenthal is well known for his support of contemporary art, and is particularly associated with the German artists Joseph Beuys, Georg Baselitz, Anselm Kiefer and Julian Schnabel, the Italian painter Francesco Clemente, and the generation of British artists that came to prominence in the early 1990s known as the YBAs.

Eileen Cooper is a British artist, known primarily as a painter and printmaker.

William Bowyer (artist)

William Bowyer RA was a British portrait and landscape painter, who worked in a traditional manner.

Roger de Grey English painter

Sir Roger de Grey, was a British landscape painter. From 1984 to 1993 he served as President of the Royal Academy.

Sir Walter Westley Russell CVO RA was a British painter and art teacher. He became a member of the Royal Academy of Arts in 1926 and served as Keeper of the Royal Academy Schools from 1927 to 1942.

Philip Connard English painter

Philip Connard, was a British painter known particularly for his paintings of decorative landscapes. Connard rose from humble origins to become an eminent artist in oils and watercolours whose commissions brought him royal recognition.

Henry Thomson (painter) English painter

Henry Thomson RA was an English artist and Royal Academician who became Keeper of the Royal Academy.

Michael Kenny was a British artist. Best known as a sculptor, he also made important reliefs and drawings as well as sculptural constructions in wood and metal.

Leonard Sulla Manasseh was a British architect, best known for the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu, which he co-designed with Ian Baker.

References

  1. ↑ Spray-gun Master - Daily Telegraph
  2. ↑ Artist's website
  3. ↑ Struggle for Power – Spectator [ permanent dead link ]
  4. ↑ Royal Academy Denies Crisis – BBC news
  5. ↑ Neiland speaks out about Royal Academy 'scandal' - The Guardian
  6. ↑ Struggle for Power – The Spectator [ permanent dead link ]
  7. ↑ Blake quits RA after friends expulsion – The Guardian
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.