Royal West of England Academy
Encyclopedia
The Royal West of England Academy (RWA) is an art gallery where Queens Road meets Whiteladies Road
, in Bristol, England.
in 1849, and a group of artists in Bristol, known as the Bristol Society of Artists. These were mostly landscape painters, and many, such as William James Müller
, Francis Danby
, James Baker Pyne
and John Syer
were well known. In 1844, when the Bristol Academy for the Promotion of Fine Arts was founded, the Bristol Society of Artists was incorporated into it. At this time the President and committee was predominantly its patrons, rather than its artists. In 1913 King George V
granted the Academy its Royal title, with the reigning monarch as its Patron, and by 1914 a major extension to the front of the building, including the dome and Walter Crane
lunettes, was completed. During World War II
the Academy building was taken over by various organisations including the Bristol Aeroplane Company
and the U.S. Army. Immediately after the war ended the Council applied for the release of the galleries but was informed that they would be occupied by the Inland Revenue
until further notice. It was not until 1950 that the building was returned to its original function, after the intervention of the then Prime Minister, Clement Attlee
. During the 1950's the Royal West of England Academy Schools became the West of England College of Art. This moved to the Bower Ashton campus in 1966, where it was then absorbed by the University of the West of England (School of Visual Studies).
, St Ives
and Bloomsbury
Schools. Paintings by George Swaish, Matthew Hale, Anne Redpath
, Mary Fedden
, Carel Weight
, Bernard Dunstan
and Elizabeth Blackadder
are also valued additions to the collection.
and facade by JR Hirst, altered in 1912 by SS Reay and H Dare Bryan. The first floor is in 3 sections, the outer ones articulated by paired Corinthian pilasters flanking large shell head niches with statues of Flaxman
and Reynolds
. A large carving of 3 female figures crowns the parapet. The interior includes coloured marble
.
Whiteladies Road
Whiteladies Road is a main road in Bristol, England. It runs north from the Victoria Rooms to Durdham Down, and separates Clifton on the west side from Redland on the east...
, in Bristol, England.
History
The Academy was the first art gallery in Bristol. Its foundation was financed by a bequest of £2000 in the will of Ellen SharplesEllen Sharples
Ellen Wallace Sharples was an English painter who specialized in portraits in pastel and in watercolor miniatures on ivory. She exhibited five miniatures at the Royal Academy in 1807, and founded the Bristol Fine Arts Academy in 1844 with a substantial gift.-Biography:Ellen Wallace was born in...
in 1849, and a group of artists in Bristol, known as the Bristol Society of Artists. These were mostly landscape painters, and many, such as William James Müller
William James Müller
William James Müller , English landscape and figure painter, the best-known artist of the Bristol School.-Biography:...
, Francis Danby
Francis Danby
Francis Danby was an Irish painter of the Romantic era. His imaginative, dramatic landscapes were comparable to those of John Martin. Danby initially developed his imaginative style while he was the central figure in a group of artists who have come to be known as the Bristol School...
, James Baker Pyne
James Baker Pyne
-External links:*...
and John Syer
John Syer
John Syer, an English painter, was born at Bristol in 1815. He painted landscape in a style formed chiefly upon that of William Muller, but failed as a colourist. He exhibited at the Royal Academy, the British Institution, and with the British Artists, between 1832 and 1875. He died in July,...
were well known. In 1844, when the Bristol Academy for the Promotion of Fine Arts was founded, the Bristol Society of Artists was incorporated into it. At this time the President and committee was predominantly its patrons, rather than its artists. In 1913 King George V
George V of the United Kingdom
George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....
granted the Academy its Royal title, with the reigning monarch as its Patron, and by 1914 a major extension to the front of the building, including the dome and Walter Crane
Walter Crane
Walter Crane was an English artist and book illustrator. He is considered to be the most prolific and influential children’s book creator of his generation and, along with Randolph Caldecott and Kate Greenaway, one of the strongest contributors to the child's nursery motif that the genre of...
lunettes, was completed. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
the Academy building was taken over by various organisations including the Bristol Aeroplane Company
Bristol Aeroplane Company
The Bristol Aeroplane Company, originally the British and Colonial Aeroplane Company, was both one of the first and one of the most important British aviation companies, designing and manufacturing both airframes and aero engines...
and the U.S. Army. Immediately after the war ended the Council applied for the release of the galleries but was informed that they would be occupied by the Inland Revenue
Inland Revenue
The Inland Revenue was, until April 2005, a department of the British Government responsible for the collection of direct taxation, including income tax, national insurance contributions, capital gains tax, inheritance tax, corporation tax, petroleum revenue tax and stamp duty...
until further notice. It was not until 1950 that the building was returned to its original function, after the intervention of the then Prime Minister, Clement Attlee
Clement Attlee
Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, KG, OM, CH, PC, FRS was a British Labour politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951, and as the Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955...
. During the 1950's the Royal West of England Academy Schools became the West of England College of Art. This moved to the Bower Ashton campus in 1966, where it was then absorbed by the University of the West of England (School of Visual Studies).
Collections
Among the paintings in the permanent collection are works by artists from the NewlynNewlyn School
The Newlyn School is a term used to describe an art colony of artists based in or near to Newlyn, a fishing village adjacent to Penzance, Cornwall, from the 1880s until the early 20th century. The establishment of the Newlyn School was reminiscent of the Barbizon School in France, where artists...
, St Ives
St Ives, Cornwall
St Ives is a seaside town, civil parish and port in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The town lies north of Penzance and west of Camborne on the coast of the Celtic Sea. In former times it was commercially dependent on fishing. The decline in fishing, however, caused a shift in commercial...
and Bloomsbury
Bloomsbury
-Places:* Bloomsbury is an area in central London.* Bloomsbury , related local government unit* Bloomsbury, New Jersey, New Jersey, USA* Bloomsbury , listed on the NRHP in Maryland...
Schools. Paintings by George Swaish, Matthew Hale, Anne Redpath
Anne Redpath
Anne Redpath OBE was a Scottish artist whose vivid domestic still lifes are among her best-known works.Redpath's father was a tweed designer in the Scottish Borders. She saw a connection between his use of colour and her own...
, Mary Fedden
Mary Fedden
Mary Fedden OBE, is a British artist. Fedden is represented by Portland Gallery, London.-Early years:Sometimes mistakenly described as the daughter of Roy Fedden , Mary Fedden studied at the Slade School of Fine Arts, London from 1932 to 1936...
, Carel Weight
Carel Weight
Carel Victor Morlais Weight was an English painter.Weight was born in Paddington in 1908. He studied at the Hammersmith School of Art and Goldsmiths College...
, Bernard Dunstan
Bernard Dunstan
Bernard Dunstan RA is a British artist, teacher, and author, best known for his studies of figures in interiors and landscapes. He is currently the longest serving Royal Academician.-Life and work:...
and Elizabeth Blackadder
Elizabeth Blackadder
Dame Elizabeth Violet Blackadder, DBE, RA, RSA is a Scottish painter and printmaker. She is the first woman to be elected to both the Royal Scottish Academy and the Royal Academy....
are also valued additions to the collection.
Building
The building is a grade II* listed building constructed in 1857. The interiors are by Charles UnderwoodCharles Underwood
Charles Underwood was a builder in Cheltenham who moved to Bristol where he became a neo-classical architect....
and facade by JR Hirst, altered in 1912 by SS Reay and H Dare Bryan. The first floor is in 3 sections, the outer ones articulated by paired Corinthian pilasters flanking large shell head niches with statues of Flaxman
John Flaxman
John Flaxman was an English sculptor and draughtsman.-Early life:He was born in York. His father was also named John, after an ancestor who, according to family tradition, had fought for Parliament at the Battle of Naseby, and afterwards settled as a carrier or farmer in Buckinghamshire...
and Reynolds
Joshua Reynolds
Sir Joshua Reynolds RA FRS FRSA was an influential 18th-century English painter, specialising in portraits and promoting the "Grand Style" in painting which depended on idealization of the imperfect. He was one of the founders and first President of the Royal Academy...
. A large carving of 3 female figures crowns the parapet. The interior includes coloured marble
Marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...
.
See also
- Barrington TabbBarrington TabbBarrington Tabb RWA was born in 1934 in Almondsbury, Barrington has lived his whole life in and around Bristol.Barrington left school early to help support his family when his father fell ill, working as an engineering inspector most of his life....
- Ellen SharplesEllen SharplesEllen Wallace Sharples was an English painter who specialized in portraits in pastel and in watercolor miniatures on ivory. She exhibited five miniatures at the Royal Academy in 1807, and founded the Bristol Fine Arts Academy in 1844 with a substantial gift.-Biography:Ellen Wallace was born in...
- Francis DanbyFrancis DanbyFrancis Danby was an Irish painter of the Romantic era. His imaginative, dramatic landscapes were comparable to those of John Martin. Danby initially developed his imaginative style while he was the central figure in a group of artists who have come to be known as the Bristol School...
- David FisherDavid Fisher (artist)David Fisher is an award-winning English artist and designer based in Midsomer Norton, Somerset. He was a prolific designer and painter of pub signs before securing a unique commission to create vast murals to improve UK service stations. He has won many awards including the Holburne Museum of...
- Hayley LeverHayley LeverHayley Lever was an Australian-American painter, etcher, lecturer and art teacher.-Life and work:Richard Hayley Lever was born in Australia on 28 September 1876...
- Janet Stancomb-WillsJanet Stancomb-WillsDame Janet Stancomb Graham Stancomb-Wills, DBE was the eldest daughter of George Perkins Stancomb and Catherine Janet Lobb, at Aldersgate, London, and niece of the first Baron Winterstoke...
- John Scandrett HarfordJohn Scandrett HarfordJohn Scandrett Harford, FRS was a British banker, benefactor and abolitionist.He was born the son of John Scandrett Harford, a prominent banker in the English city of Bristol and educated at Christ College, Cambridge...
- Mary FeddenMary FeddenMary Fedden OBE, is a British artist. Fedden is represented by Portland Gallery, London.-Early years:Sometimes mistakenly described as the daughter of Roy Fedden , Mary Fedden studied at the Slade School of Fine Arts, London from 1932 to 1936...
- Walter CraneWalter CraneWalter Crane was an English artist and book illustrator. He is considered to be the most prolific and influential children’s book creator of his generation and, along with Randolph Caldecott and Kate Greenaway, one of the strongest contributors to the child's nursery motif that the genre of...
- William James MullerWilliam James MüllerWilliam James Müller , English landscape and figure painter, the best-known artist of the Bristol School.-Biography:...
- William Henry Wills, 1st Baron Winterstoke