Bryan Organ

Last updated

Bryan Organ
Born (1935-08-31) 31 August 1935 (age 86)
Leicester, England
NationalityEnglish
EducationLoughborough College of Art
Royal Academy Schools
Notable work
Malcolm Muggeridge II
Tippett at De Montfort Hall
Prince Charles
Diana, Princess of Wales
HRH The Princess Margaret

Bryan Organ (born 31 August 1935 [1] in Leicester) [2] is a British artist considered one of the leading and most innovative English portrait painters of the 20th century. His paintings have included portraits of prominent public figures and of members of the British royal family. [3] Organ is also known for landscape paintings, such as St Pancras Station, (Leicester New Walk Museum and Art Gallery), and lithographic studies of animals (Tate). [3] London's National Portrait Gallery holds a total of sixteen of his portraits of which six were commissioned by the Gallery's Trustees. [4]

Contents

Organ studied at Loughborough College of Art and the Royal Academy Schools (1952–59) before returning to teach at Loughborough College of Art (1959–66). [5] In 1967 Organ left the college and to continue painting as a full-time career. His first solo exhibition was at Leicester City Art Gallery (1958) when still a student. He has been represented by The Redfern Gallery since 1967 [1] [3]

Organ lives and works in Leicestershire and London. [3] He is a godfather to Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex. [6]

Portraiture

Bryan Organ became interested in portraiture in the mid-1960s, a time when the medium was unfashionable and largely shunned by any young ambitious artist.[ citation needed ] For Organ portraiture was not a separate art: 'A portrait is a picture, presenting just the same problems as a still life or a landscape or an abstract. And this is true irrespective of who the sitter is. The solutions may be different, of course, but essentially the end product must be judged as a work of art'. [7] In 1971 the National Portrait Gallery Director Roy Strong said, "In his role as face-maker Bryan Organ emerges as one of the two or three painters of his generation to make any significant statement, let alone display any enthusiasm for the despised art of the portrait."[ citation needed ]

Organ's first portrait, painted in 1966, was of the journalist and satirist Malcolm Muggeridge. It was, in Organ's words, 'not commissioned, but done because I wanted to in January 1966. I spent a considerable amount of time with him, observing the way he moves and gestures and speaks. After all, to anyone who has seen Muggeridge on the TV, the image he conjures up is not static, it's in movement all the time. So I made lots of studies and from these made a distillation, retaining recognizable characteristics but eliminating inessentials ... One is simplifying all the time. It's a lot easier to put everything in. The difficult part is seeing how much you can leave out.'<ref="Illus"/> At this time Organ also painted the composer Michael Tippett. The portraits of Muggeridge and Tippett, along with a number of studies, were both included in Organ's first exhibition at the Redfern Gallery which took place in March 1967.[ citation needed ]

Whilst Organ is best known for his portraits of notable figures and of members of the British royal family, he has also created a diverse body of work outside this subject. These include his lithographs of birds and animals such as 'Four Birds' (1977), 'Four Heads of Wild Cats' (1974), and 'Monarch of the Glen after Landseer' (1974). [8]

Organ's landscapes in public collections include Hotel Timeo (1975) and Sicilian Window as well as his reinterpretation of the John Everett MillaisOphelia, Ophelia, 1974. [6]

Notable portraits

Bryan Organ has painted significant portraits throughout his career, including the official portraits of the last three Chancellors of the University of Oxford (Harold Macmillan, Roy Jenkins, and Chris Patten). [6] Organ was also the first artist outside of France to be commissioned to paint a French president (François Mitterrand, 1984). [3]

Famous public figures he has painted include Elton John (1973, Acrylic on canvas 152 x 152 cm) and, more recently, Sir David Attenborough (2016, acrylic on canvas 102 x 152). The latter was unveiled by Attenborough at Leicester's New Walk Museum & Art Gallery, in which it hangs next to Organ's portrait of Sir David's brother, Sir Richard Attenborough ('Sir Richard Attenborough', 1985–86) [9]

His portrait of Prince Charles was commissioned by the Trustees of the National Portrait Gallery in 1980. This was the inaugural work in the Gallery's programme of commissioning portraits and is the first painted portrait of the Prince to enter the National Portrait Gallery. [10]

In 1981 Organ was commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery to paint Diana, Princess of Wales. She is depicted seated in the Yellow Drawing Room at Buckingham Palace. [11] This is the only official portrait of the Princess. Prince Charles and Lady Diana were said to be 'very pleased' with the portrait which was completed and displayed just before their marriage). [12] The paintings of Charles and Diana were described by the National Portrait Gallery's Director John Hayes as 'a breakthrough in royal portraiture', as they showed a sharp contrast to the Gallery's collection of more traditional portraits of kings and queens. Without the adornments of crowns and elegant finery, these paintings offered a 'subtle celebration of the modesty of a modern prince and monarchy', according to Tristram Hunt. [13]

After its unveiling at the National Portrait Gallery Princess Diana's portrait was slashed by a Northern Irish protester (29 August 1981). [14] Paul Salmon, a Belfast student aged 20, lunged past guards and cut a diagonal slash in the painting which ripped all the way down to the frame, he is quoted as saying 'I did it for Ireland'. [14] Salmon later pleaded guilty to a charge of 'causing criminal damage', was sentenced to 6 months in prison and ordered to pay for the painting's restoration. [14]

In 1970 Organ was commissioned by Lincoln's Inn to paint a portrait of Princess Margaret, HRH The Princess Margaret in which the Princess was Royal Bencher. [5] Organ only agreed to undertake the commission if he was given complete artistic freedom. He is quoted as saying: 'My thought was that royal portraits have stood still for a very long time, that this is 1970 and that it was time to paint a Princess in a way that reflected the age she lived in. So I said yes on the condition that there were no restrictions.'[ citation needed ] The painting was unveiled at the National Portrait Gallery in August 1970 to a storm of publicity, in time for the Princess's 40th birthday. The portrait proved highly controversial and was described by the New York Times as 'sombre'. Princess Margaret herself praised the piece for accurately conveying her way of life. [3]

Personal life

Organ was married to the artist, teacher and gallery owner Elizabeth Organ. [15] Elizabeth supported his art whilst they were married; they were divorced in 1981. [15]

Related Research Articles

William Dobson English painter

William Dobson was a portraitist and one of the first significant English painters, praised by his contemporary John Aubrey as "the most excellent painter that England has yet bred". He died relatively young and his final years were disrupted by the English Civil War.

Thomas Lawrence English portrait painter and second president of the Royal Academy

Sir Thomas Lawrence was a leading English portrait painter and the fourth president of the Royal Academy. Lawrence was a child prodigy. He was born in Bristol and began drawing in Devizes, where his father was an innkeeper at the Bear Hotel in the Market Square. At the age of ten, having moved to Bath, he was supporting his family with his pastel portraits. At eighteen he went to London and soon established his reputation as a portrait painter in oils, receiving his first royal commission, a portrait of Queen Charlotte, in 1790. He stayed at the top of his profession until his death, aged 60, in 1830.

William Orpen Irish artist

Major Sir William Newenham Montague Orpen, was an Irish artist who worked mainly in London. Orpen was a fine draughtsman and a popular, commercially successful painter of portraits for the well-to-do in Edwardian society, though many of his most striking paintings are self-portraits.

Franz Xaver Winterhalter German painter and lithographer

Franz Xaver Winterhalter was a German painter and lithographer, known for his flattering portraits of royalty and upper-class society in the mid-19th century. His name has become associated with fashionable court portraiture. Among his best known works are Empress Eugénie Surrounded by her Ladies in Waiting (1855) and the portraits he made of Empress Elisabeth of Austria (1865).

Charles Wellington Furse English painter

Charles Wellington Furse was an English painter.

George Dawe 19th-century English painter

George Dawe was an English portraitist who painted 329 portraits of Russian generals active during Napoleon's invasion of Russia for the Military Gallery of the Winter Palace. He relocated to Saint Petersburg in 1819, where he won acclaim for his work from the artistic establishment and complimentary verses by Pushkin. He was the son of Philip Dawe, a successful mezzotint engraver who also produced political cartoons relating to the events of the Boston Tea Party. One of his brothers was Henry Edward Dawe, also a portraitist. He died on 15 October 1829 in Kentish Town, United Kingdom.

Laura Knight English artist t (1877–1970)

Dame Laura Knight, was an English artist who worked in oils, watercolours, etching, engraving and drypoint. Knight was a painter in the figurative, realist tradition, who embraced English Impressionism. In her long career, Knight was among the most successful and popular painters in Britain. Her success in the male-dominated British art establishment paved the way for greater status and recognition for women artists.

Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger Flemish painter (c. 1561/62 – 1636)

Marcus Gheeraerts was a Flemish artist working at the Tudor court, described as "the most important artist of quality to work in England in large-scale between Eworth and van Dyck" He was brought to England as a child by his father Marcus Gheeraerts the Elder, also a painter. He became a fashionable portraitist in the last decade of the reign of Elizabeth I under the patronage of her champion and pageant-master Sir Henry Lee. He introduced a new aesthetic in English court painting that captured the essence of a sitter through close observation. He became a favorite portraitist of James I's queen Anne of Denmark, but fell out of fashion in the late 1610s.

<i>Sir Nicholas Serota Makes an Acquisitions Decision</i>

Sir Nicholas Serota Makes an Acquisitions Decision is one of the paintings that was made as a part of the Stuckism art movement, and is recognized as a "signature piece" for the movement, It was painted by the Stuckism co-founder Charles Thomson in 2000, and has been exhibited in a number of shows since, as well as being featured on placards during Stuckist demonstrations against the Turner Prize.

Robert Peake the Elder English painter (c. 1551–1619)

Robert Peake the Elder was an English painter active in the later part of Elizabeth I's reign and for most of the reign of James I. In 1604, he was appointed picture maker to the heir to the throne, Prince Henry; and in 1607, serjeant-painter to King James I – a post he shared with John De Critz. Peake is often called "the elder", to distinguish him from his son, the painter and print seller William Peake and from his grandson, Sir Robert Peake, who followed his father into the family print-selling business.

Zsuzsi Roboz Hungarian artist (1929–2012)

Zsuzsi Roboz was a London-based Hungarian painter known for her portraiture paintings and paintings of the arts. Her work is in public galleries including the Tate Britain and The National Portrait Gallery.

Nicola Jane Philipps, sometimes referred to as Nicky Philipps, is a British artist who rose to prominence in the 2000s as a contemporary portraitist. She painted the first double portrait of Princes William and Harry in 2010.

Hugh Barron English painter

Hugh Barron was an English portrait painter and amateur musician.

Rodrigo Moynihan British artist (1910–1990)

(Herbert George) Rodrigo Moynihan was an English painter, credited with being a pioneer of abstract painting in England.

Richard Ernst Eurich, OBE, RA was an English painter who worked as a war artist to the Admiralty in the Second World War and was also known for his panoramic seascapes and narrative paintings. These were often invested with a sense of mystery and wonder which have tended to set him apart from mainstream development of art in the twentieth century.

Harrington Mann

Harrington Mann was a Scottish portrait artist and decorative painter. He was a member of the Glasgow Boys movement in the 1880s.

<i>The Graham Children</i>

The Graham Children is an oil painting completed by William Hogarth in 1742. It is a group portrait depicting the four children of Daniel Graham, apothecary to King George II. The youngest child had died by the time the painting was completed.

Martin Yeoman English painter

Martin Yeoman is an English painter and draughtsman who drew members of the British Royal Family. He was commissioned to draw the Queen's grandchildren and accompanied Charles, Prince of Wales, on overseas tours as tour artist. He is described as one of the finest draughtsmen working today and is a member of Senior Faculty at the Royal Drawing School.

<i>Diana, Princess of Wales</i> (Bryan Organ portrait)

Diana, Princess of Wales is a 1981 painting of Diana, Princess of Wales by the British artist Bryan Organ. It was commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery in London following Diana's engagement to Charles, Prince of Wales in February 1981 while the gallery was under the directorship of John Hayes. It presently hangs as part of the National Portrait Gallery's permanent collection.

Marianne Muggeridge New Zealand painter and screenprinter

Marianne Muggeridge is a New Zealand painter and screenprinter based in Taranaki. She is best known for portraits of notable New Zealanders, cityscapes and landscapes.

References

  1. 1 2 "Bryan Organ". National Portrait Gallery. Retrieved 14 February 2010.
  2. "Tigers' Johnson put in the frame". BBC News. 29 January 2005. Retrieved 14 February 2010.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Bryan Organ Biography". British Art Portfolio. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
  4. "Bryan Organ - National Portrait Gallery".
  5. 1 2 "Bryan Organ biography". The Redfern Gallery. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
  6. 1 2 3 Tate. "Bryan Organ born 1935". Tate Etc. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
  7. The Illustrated London News, 29 August 1970
  8. Tate. "Search results". Tate Etc. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
  9. "Sir Richard Attenborough (b.1923) | Art UK". www.artuk.org. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
  10. "Prince Charles - National Portrait Gallery". npg.org.uk. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
  11. "Diana, Princess of Wales - National Portrait Gallery". npg.org.uk. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
  12. "Fanfare greets Lady Di's portrait..." Lakeland Ledger. 24 July 1981.
  13. Extract from Face to Face The Gallery Supporters' Magazine, Issue 16 - Spring 2006
  14. 1 2 3 "Princess Diana". Kentucky New Era. 21 November 1981.
  15. 1 2 Wakelin, Peter (22 July 2009). "Elizabeth Organ". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 March 2022.