Patrick Baty
Encyclopedia
Patrick Baty, is a British
historian
of paint
and colour, who works as a consultant
in the decoration of historic buildings.
, in London, and after a short period as a private
soldier in the Parachute Regiment attended the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
being commissioned into the 9th/12th Royal Lancers
in 1976. He resigned his commission in 1980 when his newly-posted commanding officer
opposed his secondment to the Sultan of Oman's Armed Forces
. Reverting to the rank of Trooper
he undertook Selection
for the Artists Rifles leaving as a Captain some ten years later.
After a brief spell with the Anthony d’Offay gallery he joined his family paint
business Papers and Paints. Having always had an interest in historic buildings he began a study of the methods and materials employed in their decoration. In 1993 he completed a part-time degree in the subject at the University of East London
.
. He is a long-standing committee member of the Georgian Group
and a Fellow
of both the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland
and the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures & Commerce. Baty is a founding member of both the Traditional Paint Forum and the Architectural Paint Group.
(Dulux
) and The Little Greene to develop ranges of traditional paint colours for English Heritage
. Colour ranges have also been produced for the French and German markets. The colours traditionally employed on the exteriors of buildings in Bath, Edinburgh
, Penzance
and in Gloucester
have been investigated for the local planning authorities and guidelines produced for them. The colours used on the exteriors of Chelsea
houses in the 19th century have also been identified and an article published for the Chelsea Society
. He has recently finished work on a range of exterior colours based on regional use in France
. A similar project looking at regional colour in the United Kingdom
is in progress.
In 2007 His company, Papers and Paints, was awarded a Royal Warrant
for his work with colour.
Patrick Baty is the great grandson of the artists Robert Bevan
and Stanisława de Karłowska. Sir Philip Hendy
, Director of the National Gallery
(1946–1967), commented that Bevan was perhaps the first Englishman to use pure colour in the 20th Century.
enthusiasts. He has been a frequent lecturer on graduate
and postgraduate courses at several universities, to architects on Continuing Professional Development
courses, and to conservation officers. He has spoken at a number of international symposia in Europe
, and lectured and run courses along the East coast of the United States
.
His published works are listed here and he has also contributed to and edited various other books on the subject of paint and colour.
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
of paint
Paint
Paint is any liquid, liquefiable, or mastic composition which after application to a substrate in a thin layer is converted to an opaque solid film. One may also consider the digital mimicry thereof...
and colour, who works as a consultant
Consultant
A consultant is a professional who provides professional or expert advice in a particular area such as management, accountancy, the environment, entertainment, technology, law , human resources, marketing, emergency management, food production, medicine, finance, life management, economics, public...
in the decoration of historic buildings.
Early years
He was educated at St Benedict's SchoolSt Benedict's School
St Benedict's School is a co-educational independent Roman Catholic school situated in Ealing, West London. The school is part of Ealing Abbey and is governed by the Abbot and monks of Ealing. As the only day school of the English Houses of the English Benedictine Congregation, the school does not...
, in London, and after a short period as a private
Private (rank)
A Private is a soldier of the lowest military rank .In modern military parlance, 'Private' is shortened to 'Pte' in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries and to 'Pvt.' in the United States.Notably both Sir Fitzroy MacLean and Enoch Powell are examples of, rare, rapid career...
soldier in the Parachute Regiment attended the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst , commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is a British Army officer initial training centre located in Sandhurst, Berkshire, England...
being commissioned into the 9th/12th Royal Lancers
9th/12th Royal Lancers
The 9th/12th Royal Lancers is a cavalry regiment of the British Army, formed in 1960 by the amalgamation of the 9th Queen's Royal Lancers and the 12th Royal Lancers. It is currently a formation reconnaissance regiment, equipped with the Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance family of vehicles and...
in 1976. He resigned his commission in 1980 when his newly-posted commanding officer
Commanding officer
The commanding officer is the officer in command of a military unit. Typically, the commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latitude to run the unit as he sees fit, within the bounds of military law...
opposed his secondment to the Sultan of Oman's Armed Forces
Sultan of Oman's Armed Forces
The Sultan of Oman's Armed Forces are the Royal Army of Oman , Royal Navy of Oman, Royal Air Force of Oman and other defence forces of the Sultanate of Oman...
. Reverting to the rank of Trooper
Trooper (rank)
Trooper from the French "troupier" is the equivalent rank to private in a regiment with a cavalry tradition in the British Army and many other Commonwealth armies, including those of Australia, Canada, South Africa and New Zealand. Today, most cavalry units operate in the armoured role, equipped...
he undertook Selection
United Kingdom Special Forces Selection
United Kingdom Special Forces Selection is the selection and training process for members of the United Kingdom's three Special Forces formations: 22 Special Air Service, Special Boat Service, and Special Reconnaissance Regiment...
for the Artists Rifles leaving as a Captain some ten years later.
After a brief spell with the Anthony d’Offay gallery he joined his family paint
Paint
Paint is any liquid, liquefiable, or mastic composition which after application to a substrate in a thin layer is converted to an opaque solid film. One may also consider the digital mimicry thereof...
business Papers and Paints. Having always had an interest in historic buildings he began a study of the methods and materials employed in their decoration. In 1993 he completed a part-time degree in the subject at the University of East London
University of East London
The University of East London is a university located in the London Borough of Newham, East London, England, based at two campuses in Stratford and Docklands areas...
.
Recent career
Patrick Baty has acted as a consultant on many major restoration projects in the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. He is a long-standing committee member of the Georgian Group
Georgian Group
The Georgian Group is an English and Welsh conservation organisation created to campaign for the preservation of historic buildings and planned landscapes of the 18th and early 19th centuries...
and a Fellow
Fellow
A fellow in the broadest sense is someone who is an equal or a comrade. The term fellow is also used to describe a person, particularly by those in the upper social classes. It is most often used in an academic context: a fellow is often part of an elite group of learned people who are awarded...
of both the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland
Society of Antiquaries of Scotland
The Society of Antiquaries of Scotland is the senior antiquarian body in Scotland, with its headquarters in the National Museum, Chambers Street, Edinburgh...
and the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures & Commerce. Baty is a founding member of both the Traditional Paint Forum and the Architectural Paint Group.
Work with colour
In the 1980s Patrick Baty produced a range of paint colours based on those offered by a Scottish house-painter in 1807, this sparked off the present wave of historically-themed paint ranges which are still seen today. In April 2000, Homes & Gardens described him as being “Undoubtedly the most influential of our (paint) experts…whose breadth and depth of knowledge is unrivalled.” In recent years, on two separate occasions, he has been employed by ICIImperial Chemical Industries
Imperial Chemical Industries was a British chemical company, taken over by AkzoNobel, a Dutch conglomerate, one of the largest chemical producers in the world. In its heyday, ICI was the largest manufacturing company in the British Empire, and commonly regarded as a "bellwether of the British...
(Dulux
Dulux
Dulux is an internationally available brand of paint. It is produced by AkzoNobel . The brand name Dulux has been used by both ICI and DuPont since 1931 and was one of the first alkyd-based paints.-History:...
) and The Little Greene to develop ranges of traditional paint colours for English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
. Colour ranges have also been produced for the French and German markets. The colours traditionally employed on the exteriors of buildings in Bath, Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, Penzance
Penzance
Penzance is a town, civil parish, and port in Cornwall, England, in the United Kingdom. It is the most westerly major town in Cornwall and is approximately 75 miles west of Plymouth and 300 miles west-southwest of London...
and in Gloucester
Gloucester
Gloucester is a city, district and county town of Gloucestershire in the South West region of England. Gloucester lies close to the Welsh border, and on the River Severn, approximately north-east of Bristol, and south-southwest of Birmingham....
have been investigated for the local planning authorities and guidelines produced for them. The colours used on the exteriors of Chelsea
Chelsea, London
Chelsea is an area of West London, England, bounded to the south by the River Thames, where its frontage runs from Chelsea Bridge along the Chelsea Embankment, Cheyne Walk, Lots Road and Chelsea Harbour. Its eastern boundary was once defined by the River Westbourne, which is now in a pipe above...
houses in the 19th century have also been identified and an article published for the Chelsea Society
Chelsea Society
The Chelsea Society was founded in 1927, by the Chelsea author Reginald Blunt, with the aim of protecting the historic fabric of Chelsea and of influencing future environmental changes...
. He has recently finished work on a range of exterior colours based on regional use in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. A similar project looking at regional colour in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
is in progress.
In 2007 His company, Papers and Paints, was awarded a Royal Warrant
Royal Warrant
Royal warrants of appointment have been issued for centuries to those who supply goods or services to a royal court or certain royal personages. The warrant enables the supplier to advertise the fact that they supply to the royal family, so lending prestige to the supplier...
for his work with colour.
Personal life
He is married with a daughter and two sons.Patrick Baty is the great grandson of the artists Robert Bevan
Robert Bevan
Robert Polhill Bevan was an English painter, draughtsman and lithographer. He was a founding member of the Camden Town Group, the London Group, and the Cumberland Market Group.-Early life:...
and Stanisława de Karłowska. Sir Philip Hendy
Philip Hendy
Sir Philip Anstiss Hendy was a British art curator who worked both in Britain and overseas, notably the United States. In 1923 he began his career in art administration as an Assistant Keeper and lecturer at the Wallace Collection in London, despite his having no formal training in art history...
, Director of the National Gallery
National Gallery, London
The National Gallery is an art museum on Trafalgar Square, London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The gallery is an exempt charity, and a non-departmental public body of the Department for Culture, Media...
(1946–1967), commented that Bevan was perhaps the first Englishman to use pure colour in the 20th Century.
Lecturing and Writing
Baty lectures often on the general subject of paint and colour of the 18th and 19th centuries. The audiences range widely from the staff of the national amenity organisations, to preservationHistoric preservation
Historic preservation is an endeavor that seeks to preserve, conserve and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance...
enthusiasts. He has been a frequent lecturer on graduate
Graduation
Graduation is the action of receiving or conferring an academic degree or the ceremony that is sometimes associated, where students become Graduates. Before the graduation, candidates are referred to as Graduands. The date of graduation is often called degree day. The graduation itself is also...
and postgraduate courses at several universities, to architects on Continuing Professional Development
Continuing Professional Development
Continuing professional development or Continuing professional education is the means by which people maintain their knowledge and skills related to their professional lives.-CPD research:...
courses, and to conservation officers. He has spoken at a number of international symposia in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, and lectured and run courses along the East coast of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
His published works are listed here and he has also contributed to and edited various other books on the subject of paint and colour.
Articles on him
- "My True Colours." The Architects' Journal. 15 June 1994: 50.
- "Let there be White; Yes, but do you want Apple White." Mail on Sunday. 4 February 1996.
- "Creative Genius: 100 men and women of influence." House & Garden. July 1997: 79-87.
- "The Specialist." House & Garden (US)House & Garden (magazine)House & Garden was an American shelter magazine published by Condé Nast Publications that focused on interior design, entertaining, and gardening....
. April 2005: 174. - "Historical paints from England." Allison Eckardt Ledes. Magazine Antiques (US), June, 2005.
- "Doing up your Dream House." Country LifeCountry Life (magazine)Country Life is a British weekly magazine, based in London at 110 Southwark Street, and owned by IPC Media, a Time Warner subsidiary.- Topics :The magazine covers the pleasures and joys of rural life, as well as the concerns of rural people...
. 1 March 2007: 96. - "Specialist Profile - Patrick Baty" House & Garden. September 2010: 68-69.