As with literature, Brentford has a rich history of artists who were born, lived or worked in Brentford and also works that have used Brentford as subject matter.
Brentford has provided a source of inspiration for artists, being next to the River Thames, River Brent and Grand Union Canal; together with its hive of industry and wealth of artisans and intellectuals attracted by the palaces at Kew, Richmond and Hampton Court.
‘Art and Artists of Brentford’ is a series of articles which will highlight these artists and their works, through the centuries, such as:
He was a successful engraver and writing master, who lived in Brentford from 1712 to 1723. Youths were boarded and taught writing, drawing, and engraving at his house in Brentford End. He is famous for his engravings of ‘The Universal Penman’ series and a second link here!
He followed his father and also became a very successful engraver, living in Brentford from 1712 to 1723 with his father. In the 1740s he became known as the most talented political satirist of his time.
The famous English sculptor, who was the patron and friend of William Blake, produced a memorial sculpture in 1805, of two 3 foot high mourning female figures, ‘Faith and Hope’ in St Lawrence Church, commemorating William Howell Ewin (d.1804), the usurer, and his sister Sarah Howell (d. 1808).
He was a full member of the Royal Academy and then became the Academy's Professor of Sculpture.
We do not know if this priceless memorial is still in the church, as so many of the memorials were taken out in the late 1970s.
John Flaxman sculpted a similar memorial of Faith and Hope in St Leonard’s Church, Flamstead.
He lived on Strand-on-the-Green and painted ‘The Last Supper’, initially for St Anne’s Church on Kew Green, then it went to St Georges Church in Brentford and then to St Paul’s Church in Brentford. The faces of the disciples in this painting are believed to have been modelled on a family of local fishermen at Strand-on-the-Green. He also painted another version that hangs in St John’s Church Calcutta and has just been restored.
He lived with his maternal uncle, Joseph Mallord William Marshall, in Brentford (where the Weir pub is now) in 1785 for two years. This painting, ‘View from the mouth of the River Brent’ is a view from where Julius Point is now:
See Janet McNamara’s excellent J.M.W. Turner article on Brentford High Street Project website.
Emeric Essex Vidal an engraver and painter, born in Brentford, 29 March 1791. He joined the British Navy at 15 years old and was one of the most important travelling artists working in pre- and post-independence South America.
Haden was an etcher, who produced a fine work of Brentford Ferry:
He was born in Brentford and gained fame as a painter of wild animals.
An English painter who lived for some time in Brentford.
He was a Symbolist painter and illustrator who was born in Brentford. Collections of his works are in the British Museum and Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge.
His masterpiece ‘Acts of Mercy’, is a series of four large paintings that were shown at The National Gallery, 14 July 2010 – 17 October 2010. Here is a good slide show of them. Details of the exhibition can be found on this National Gallery Page.
A landscape painter was born in Brentford and emigrated to Los Angeles, USA in 1904.
A British artist and poet who had a studio at Durham Wharf, beside the River Thames in Hammersmith. He painted ‘Grand Union Canal at Brentford’, in 1975, a lithograph in The Tate:
You can see his work at the Bohun Gallery, Henley-on-Thames
A painter who taught at Twickenham, he painted a fine work of Brentford Lock, which was acquired by the Government Art Collection. It was his Grand Union Canal: Brentford Lock, an oil of 1954, bought for the collection in 1955 and presently hanging in the British Embassy, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He had a style similar to Stanley Spencer’s.
See the Grand Union Canal Brentford Lock painting in the Government Art Collection.
He produced a wood engraving of the MSO Boatyard, 'Brentford Boatyard;
He has painted scenes of Brentford and along the River Thames.
William Bowyer's portraits of Arthur Scargill and Vivian Richards hang in the National Portrait Gallery. He is known for his many paintings of the River Thames, often near his home in Chiswick.
You can see examples of William Bowyer's paintings on the New English Art Club website. He is the father of artists, Jason Bowyer and Francis Bowyer.
A self-taught naive artist who lived in Brentford. He was a colourful character, who lived on Brentford Dock and was previously a musician who had played at Ronnie Scotts and frequented the Brewery Tap. He produced some dreamlike nocturnal paintings of the canal at Brentford which can be found on the Brentford Art Gallery website.
His work is planned to be exhibited in the Brentford Art Gallery located at the bottom of Catherine Wheel Road, on the Johnson's island opposite the Brewery Tap pub.
We have recently added a new photo gallery with some of Barry Jones work here:
One of the most significant British modern artists, Bob Law, a painter and sculptor, was born in Brentford in 1934. He has been described as the founding father of British Minimalism art.
Jason Bowyer is a painter who lives in Brentford and works at his studio in Studio 7, Kew Bridge Steam Museum. He also runs classes in painting and drawing from his studio. See Jason Bowyer’s website for a more detailed profile and example of his works. He says of his style, “My paintings come from an emotional, visceral response, ideas of light and visual tension.”
He was born in 1957 at Chiswick, studied at Camberwell and the R.A. Schools and is the Founder and currently president of the New English Art Club, which is the leading figurative group of painters in Britain.
Claire Ireland is a ceramic sculptor who lives in Brentford with her husband, the painter Jason Bowyer and works at her studio in Studio 5, Kew Bridge Steam Museum, where she also runs classes in ceramics.
The spindle was pit fired with sawdust and is 110 cm high. It looks so natural as it bends into the rain clouds, set against the outdoor grass and pebbled-concrete block.
She works using hand-building techniques making figurative forms, combining printing and drawing techniques to create decorative surfaces on the clay. On her larger scale work for specific locations, such as the ‘Pit Spindle’ above she develops texture, surface and colour so it becomes integral to the form.
He painted the river next to Brentford Ait from the Surrey bank.
I suggested to the Brentford artist, Jason Bowyer that maybe there is a special Brentford light for artists, and he said, ‘I have often thought that we live in the only Northern town in London (that’s good!). Carel Weight RA, also painted images of Brentford, he told me that it was very paintable.’
A great endorsement indeed, from Carel Weight, one of the most influential painters of the 20th century.
The fine tradition of art in Brentford continues today.
Do you know of any other artists associated with Brentford?
Richard Saltoun, for artwork by Bob Law richardsaltoun.com/bob-law
Jason Bowyer, for artwork by himself jasonbowyer.com
Claire Ireland, for artwork by Claire Ireland claireirelandceramics.com
The New English Art Club for artwork by Jason Bowyer and others newenglishartclub.co.uk
John Iddon Fine Art for artwork by Norman Twyman and others johniddonfineart.com
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I see that you have found William Bowyer's painting of Brentford Bridge. I've seen the original - far too big and expensive, but a piece of local history. You did not mention that one of his sons, Jason, has a studio at the Steam Museum.
Thanks Ian, I have updated the main article with an entry for Jason Bowyer, a very fine artist who lives and works in Brentford. Have a wander around some of Jason Bowyer’s paintings at the New English Art Club.
Claire Ireland is a ceramics sculptor and also has a studio at Studio 5, Kew Bridge Steam Museum. I have updated the main article to include an entry for Claire Ireland.
The Friends of Turner’s House, promote knowledge of Turner, his house and garden and his time in Twickenham, from the house, Sandycombe Lodge, St Margarets, which Turner designed and lived in.
found this interesting connection between the great German born British expressionistic painter Auerbach and Brentford.
He used to visit Brentford in the 1960s to see his friend and lover, Estella Olive West (E.O.W.), the daughter of the philosopher O.S. Wauchope and one of his regular models. This home in Brentford was a special place to the artist and during the years 1963-5 he went there three times a week, in the evenings, to paint E.O.W.
The painting of E.O.W.’s sitting room in Brentford is in the Tate, The Sitting Room 1964.
Mark Boxer lived in The Butts, Brentford and he was a great cartoonist.
Thanks Ian. Here is some information about Mark Boxer:
Mark Boxer (1931-1988) lived on the Butts, Brentford. He was a magazine editor of The Sunday Times Magazine (1962-5) and the Tatler (1983-1988), a cartoonist and caricaturist.
Some of his profile cartoons of personalities, using the pseudonym ‘Marc’, used to accompany articles in the New Statesman between 1970 and 1978 and in The Guardian/Observer between 1982 and 1987. Some of these are in the National Gallery
There is a good biography of him on the British Cartoon Archive website,
“His first published cartoons appeared in the 1950s in Granta and Punch. He created the cartoon characters, The Stringalongs, Simon and Joanna Stringalong, a trendy upper-middle-class couple from London's NW1. and they first appeared in the strip "Life and Times in NW1", written by Peter Preston, which began in the Listener in August 1967. From 1969 they also featured in a pocket cartoon in The Times. A variant of the strip then ran in colour in Nova as "Tinderbox Green: An Everyday Story of Estate Living", again written by Peter Preston.”
Some of his cartoons can be seen on on the British Cartoon Archive website.
