Frank Brangwyn
(1867 - 1956)
Exposition Brangwyn Bruges, 1936
£1,300.00
Frank Brangwyn (1867 - 1956)
£260.00
Size:
Height – 29cm x Width – 28cm
1 in stock
In 1927 the Brangwyn Portfolio was published by E F d’Alignan and Paul Turpin. Responding to a demand for high quality reproductions of his work Brangwyn himself chose 100 items which he felt were representative of his range of disciplines, including 12 original etchings and 3 original lithographs. The remaining 85 works were lithographic reproductions of watercolours, pastels and drawings produced by photomechanical means to which Brangwyn and his assistants added chalk or watercolour through stencils, giving the impression of original works. In fact such is the quality of these reproductions that they are frequently mistaken for the real thing – even by the top auction houses.
The folios, presented in a folder measuring 45 x 64cm, were produced in a limited edition of 120, costing 100 guineas each. Most were sold to Japan, America and Europe. Works produced before 1922 were numbered 1-50, before 1927 were numbered 51-100. Lead Worker was no. 47 in the series. The original drawing from which it was reproduced has not been located.
Brangwyn was a fervent believer that art should be accessible to all, regardless of wealth or station, which probably explains his interest in autographic processes. A mass produced printed work was obviously considerably more affordable for the general population than a one-off oil painting. Although Brangwyn cut corners – he would rework an image in a variety of media and frequently recycled areas of etching plates to produce another print run – he appeared to give his printed work as much attention to detail and composition as his original pieces.
His interest in printing processes is reflected in the fact that he was made an Associate and Fellow of the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers in 1903; was the first President of the Society of Graphic Art in 1921, a group which exhibited both drawings and prints at the Royal Institute galleries from 1921 to 1940; and was an active member of the Senefelder Club founded in 1909, succeeding Joseph Pennell as President.
The equestrian statue is the Colleoni by Andrea del Verrocchio, located in front of the church of S. Giovanni and Paolo in Venice.
We are grateful to Libby Horner and Nancy Ramage for assistance.
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Frank Brangwyn was born in Bruges, Belgium, the son of an English father and Welsh mother. The family returned to London in 1874, Brangwyn’s father gaining work as a designer of buildings, embroideries and furniture. Although Brangwyn appears to have had little formal education, whether academic or artistic, his earliest mentors were three of the most influential men in design at the turn of the century: Arthur Heygate Mackmurdo, William Morris and Siegfried Bing. Between 1884 and 1887 Brangwyn travelled to Kent, Cornwall and Devon, before venturing further with trips to Turkey in 1888, South Africa in 1891, Spain in 1892 and Morocco in 1893.
Brangwyn was an independent artist, an experimenter and innovator, capable of working on both large and small scale projects, ranging from murals, oil paintings, watercolours, etchings, woodcuts and lithographs to designs for architecture, interiors, stained glass, furniture, carpets, ceramics and jewellery, as well as book illustrations, bookplates and commercial posters. It is estimated that he produced over 12,000 works during his lifetime. Mural commissions included the Worshipful Company of Skinners, London (1902-09), St Aidan’s church, Leeds (1908-16), Manitoba Legislative Building, Winnipeg, Canada (1918-21), Christ’s Hospital, Horsham (1912-23), State Capitol, Jefferson City, USA (1915-25), the British Empire panels, Swansea (1925-32), and Rockefeller Center, New York (1930-34). Brangwyn married Lucy Ray in 1896 and took on the lease of Temple Lodge, Hammersmith, in 1900. In 1918 the artist purchased The Jointure, Ditchling, where he spent most of his time following his wife’s death in 1924. Elected RA in 1919, knighted in 1924, holder of countless artistic awards, Brangwyn was modest about his singular achievements, regarding art as an occupation and describing himself as a designer.
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