Frank Brangwyn (b. Bruges, 13 May 1867: d. Ditchling, Sussex, 11 June 1956) was a British painter, printmaker, draughtsman, and designer, the son of a Welsh architect who specialised in church furnishings, and who was working in Belgium at the time of Frank’s birth. Between 1882–84 he served an apprenticeship with William Morris, and like his master he was active in a variety of fields. He was an Official War Artist during the First World War, and was considered one of the finest draughtsmen of the day; a skilful etcher and lithographer, who also made designs for a great range of objects (furniture, textiles, ceramics, glassware, and jewellery) however, he became best known for his murals. His most famous undertaking in this field was a series of large panels on the theme of the British empire, commissioned by the House of Lords.
All images © Estate of Sir Frank William Brangwyn.
This is part 1 of a 10-part series on the works of Frank Brangwyn:
1887 The Rescue
This seascape depicts the view from the rigging of a sailing ship on a stormy sea. Men are holding onto the rigging, and one man is hanging from a winch on a rope. This work, painted when Brangwyn was around 20 years old, dates to the earliest phase of his work when he painted a number of traditional subjects about the sea and life on the seas.
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| 1887 The Rescue oil on canvas 102 x 127 cm Warrington Museum & Art Gallery, UK |
The Cornish period was important in Brangwyn’s development and this painting is perhaps the most fascinating of his Newlyn-style works. To get to Mevagissey the artist left London aboard the Waterford Packet in October 1887. He landed at Falmouth, where he more than likely visited his good friend and mentor Charles Napier Hemy (1841–1917), RA. From Falmouth he travelled to St Austell, and then walked carrying his painting materials to Mevagissey, where he painted plein-air in the modern Newlyn style. Brangwyn’s short time in the area was important, helping him to concentrate on the half-tones that vary so subtly in the constantly changing Cornish light. At the beginning of 1888, he began this view of the construction of the outer harbour.
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| 1888 Constructing South Pier, Mevagissey oil on canvas 51 x 76 cm Falmouth Art Gallery, UK |
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| 1888 Flood Time oil on canvas 55.9 x 40.6 cm |
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| 1889 Shipping in open seas oil on canvas 35.6 x 29.5 cm |
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| 1890-96 Study of women lithograph on paper 34 x 28 cm |
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| c1890 In a Turkish garden oil on wood panel 73.8 x 63.5 cm National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne |
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| c1891 Pilots, Port of Pasajes, Spain oil on canvas 101.6 x 127 cm Art Institute of Chicago, IL |
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| 1891 Zanzibar oil on canvas 76 x 101.5 cm |
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| 1891 Funchal, Madeira oil on panel 92 x 81 cm Falmouth Art Gallery, Cornwall, UK |
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| 1892 A Trade on the Beach oil on canvas 102 x 126.7 cm © Musée d'Orsay, Dist. RMN-Grand Palais |
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| 1893 The Japanese Kimono: Portrait of Lucy Gray oil on canvas 100 x 95 cm |
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| 1894 Heavy Weather in the Channel: Stowing the Mainsail oil on strawboard 75.5 x 55.5 cm National Maritime Museum, London |
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| c1896 The Merchant uncovered her face (illustration for 'The Story of Gulnare of the Sea') watercolour and tempera on millboard 57.8 x 38.2 cm V&A Museum, London |
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| 1896 The scoffers oil on canvas 233.4 x 228.6 cm Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia |
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| 1896 Assisi Beggar oil on canvas 42 x 31 cm William Morris Gallery, London |
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| 1896 A Moorish life oil on board 62 x 74 cm (framed) |
1897 Venice
Brangwyn first visited Venice in 1896, when he was twenty-eight shortly after his marriage to discuss a projected decorative scheme. This visit was to instill in the young artist a deep-felt love of the city to which he would return for almost three decades. 'He found Venice a city of immeasurable charm. He was enthralled by its medieval and Renaisance architecture, its graceful bridges, its gondolas and canals, its piazzas, all providing an abundance of material for the painter. He filled his sketch-book, and was eager on his return to London to translate his sketches into large paintings.
The mid 1900s were particularly important to the development of Brangwyn's Venetian pictures. He exhibited a series of large and dramatic panels at the Venice International Exhibition in 1905 and was awarded a gold medal at the Venice Biennale in 1907. The International Exhibition attracted artists from all over the world who travelled to the city and left with arms full of sketches and canvases recording the many faces of its beauty. Among those who were in Venice with Brangwyn, were John Singer Sargent and Alfred East.
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| 1897 Venice oil on canvas 76.2 x 101.6 cm V&A Museum, London |
1899 L'Art Nouveau
Poster advertising an exhibition, arranged by S. Bing, of modern French art, glass by Louis C. Tiffany. Bronzes by Constantin Meunier, etc., at the Grafton Gallery, London, May-December 1899.
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| 1899 L'Art Nouveau colour lithograph on paper 78 x 49.7 cm V&A Museum, London |
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| 1900 The Scroll oil on canvas 61 x 41.5 cm |
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| 1900 Orient-Pacific Line, Australia and London colour lithograph poster 78 x 92 cm |
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| 1900 Old man with hat charcoal, red & white chalk, ink wash, gouache, ink on off white paper 37 x 32 cm Danum Gallery, Library and Museum, Doncaster, UK |
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| Made in 1900: Pair of drawer handles electroplated silver on copper, pierced and embossed 10 x 10 cm V&A Museum, London |
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| 1900 Charity oil on canvas 94 x 91 cm The State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg, Russia |
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| c1900 Venice: St Mark's from the Lagoon oil on canvas 76.2 x 107 cm National Museum Cardiff, UK |
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| c1900 The Golden Horn oil on canvas 77 x 102 cm Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia |
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| c1900 Sir Alfred Edward East oil on canvas 102.2 x 128.3 cm © E.H. Glaisyer / National Portrait Gallery, London |
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| c1900 London Bridge etching on paper 31.5 x 36.5 cm |
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| c1900 Almanac for the year 1901 lithograph on paper V&A Museum, London |
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| c1900 East Anglian canal scene at Sunset watercolour on paper 20 x 25 cm |
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| c1900 Assisi Beggar lithograph on paper 18 x 17 cm |
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| 1901 An allegorical figure of a potter lithograph on paper 54 x 20 cm |
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| 1901 A well in Morocco pencil & watercolour on paper 54.6 x 66.6 cm © RMN-Grand Palais (Orsay Museum), Paris |
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| 1901-09 Two beggars lithograph 37 x 24 cm |
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| c1902 A Study of leeks oil on canvas 63.4 x 63.4 cm Leeds Art Gallery, UK |
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| 1903 Trees and factory, Hammersmith, London etching and drypoint with plate-tone printed in brown ink 32.1 x 39.7 cm National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne |
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| 1903 The Mine lithograph on paper 33 x 24.5 cm Christchurch Art Gallery, New Zealand |
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| 1903 London Bridge etching & aquatint on paper 42.2 x 55.5 cm Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, British Columbia |
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| 1903 A road in Picardy etching with plate-tone 30.3 x 37.6 cm (plate) National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne |
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| 1904 Building the Victoria and Albert Museum watercolour on beige paper 54.6 x 72.3 cm V&A Museum, London |
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| 1904 Building the Victoria & Albert Museum etching on paper 65 x 76.4 vm V&A Museum, London |
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| 1904 Bridge-Builders etching on paper 50 x 61.5 cm |
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| 1904 Brentford Bridge etching on paper 40.9 x 33.6 cm |
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| 1904 Breaking up the Hannibal etching on paper 49.5 x 62.5 cm |
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| 1904 Sawyers etching on zinc 57.2 x 46.5 cm William Morris Gallery, London |
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| 1904 Navvies at work oil on canvas 165.1 x 541 cm Leeds Art Gallery, Yorkshire, UK |
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| 1904 Mill bridge etching in brown ink on paper 37.8 x 35.2 cm Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, British Columbia |
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| 1904 Fishmongers' Hall etching in brown on laid paper 18.7 x 12.2 cm |
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| 1904 Castello della Ziza etching in dark brown ink 45 x 53 cm The Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University, Illinois |
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