Background

Frank Brangwyn was born on May 12, 1867 at Bruges, Belgium; the son of William Curtis Brangwyn, the owner of an establishment for church embroideries and kindred objects, who took a leading part in the Gothic revival under Pugin.

Education

Brangwyn received his first instruction from his father, later from Arthur Heygate Mackmurdo and in the workshops of William Morris, but he was largely an autodidact without a formal artistic education.

Career

When the family moved to England, Brangwyn attracted the attention of William Morris by a drawing on which he was engaged at South Kensington museum. He worked for some time in Morris's studio, and then travelled more than once to the East, whereby his sense of colour and the whole further development of his art became deeply influenced. Indeed, the impressions he then received, and his love of Oriental decorative art—tiles and carpets—exercised a greater influence on him than any early training or the works of any European master. His whole tendency is essentially decorative: a colour-sense of sumptuous richness is wedded to an equally strong sense of well-balanced, harmonious design. These qualities, together with a summary suppression of the details which tie a subject to time and place, give his compositions a nobly impressive and universal character, such as may be seen in his decorative panel “Modern Commerce” in the ambulatory of the Royal Exchange, London. Among other decorative schemes executed by him are those for “L'Art nouveau” in the rue de Provence, Paris; for the hall of the Skinners' Company, London; and for the British room at the Venice International Exhibition, 1905. The Luxembourg museum has his “Trade on the Beach”; the Venice municipal museum, the “St Simon Stylites”; the Stuttgart gallery, the “St John the Baptist”; the Munich Pinakothek, the “Assisi”; the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburg, his “Sweetmeat Seller”; the Prague gallery, his “Turkish Boatmen”; and the National Gallery of New South Wales, “The Scoffers. ” Brangwyn embarked successfully in many fields of applied art, and made admirable designs for book decoration, stained glass, furniture, tapestry, metal-work and pottery. He devoted himself extensively to etching, and executed many plates of astonishing vigour and dramatic intensity.

Achievements

• His 1890 canvas, Funeral At Sea won a medal of the third class at the 1891 Paris Salon. Brangwyn donated many of his own and other artworks to museums and galleries in Britain and Europe including the British Museum and the William Morris Gallery. In 1936 he presented Bruges with over 400 works, now in the Arents House Museum. In return Bruges made him Citoyen d'Honneur de Bruges, only the third time the award had been given. He was made Chevalier of the Legion of Honour in 1902, Chevalier of the Order of the Crown of Italy in 1911, Commander of the Italian Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus in 1917, Commander and Cross of the Order of Leopold I of Belgium in 1919, Grand Officer of the Order of Leopold II of Belgium in 1936 and Knight Bachelor, Great Britain in 1941. He received the Gold medal of Venice and Grand Prix of Milan for the etching Sante Maria della Salute in 1906. In 1919 he was made the First President of the Society of Graphic Art. He was also president of the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists in 1925–1926.

Works

More photos

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  • Two Aqueducts, Symana Turkey - 1926 Color Illustration

    (Single disbound illustration 9 1/2 x 7 1/4 inches includi...)

  • Bridge of Allverdi Khan, Ispahan, Persia - 1926 Color Illustration

    (Single disbound illustration 9 1/2 x 7 1/4 inches includi...)

  • Chester Bridge and Town - 1926 Color Illustration

    (Single disbound illustration 9 1/2 x 7 1/4 inches includi...)

  • Narni Bridge and Mountains - 1926 Color Illustration

    (Single disbound illustration 9 1/2 x 7 1/4 inches includi...)

  • Bridge at Assisi - 1926 Color Illustration

    (Single disbound illustration 9 1/2 x 7 1/4 inches includi...)

  • Bridge at Bassano Over the Brenta, Supposed to be designed by Palladio - 1926 Color Illustration

    (Single disbound illustration 9 1/2 x 7 1/4 inches includi...)

  • The Bridge of the Emperor Valerian, Shuster Persia - 1926 Color Illustration

    (Single disbound illustration 9 1/2 x 7 1/4 inches includi...)

  • Pont Neuf, Paris (New Bridge) - 1926 Color Illustration

    (Single disbound illustration 9 1/2 x 7 1/4 inches includi...)

  • Bridge at Torcello, Venice - 1926 Color Illustration

    (Single disbound illustration 9 1/2 x 7 1/4 inches includi...)

Membership

He was elected associate of the Royal Academy in 1904 and a full member in 1919.

Connections

In 1896, Brangwyn married Lucy Ray, a nurse, who died in 1924. They had no children.

Father:

William Curtis Brangwyn

Wife:

Lucy Ray

nurse

References

• Frank Brangwyn and His Work
• Frank Brangwyn: Way of the Cross
• Brangwyn