Wednesday, 21 May 2025

Frank Brangwyn - part 3

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 3 of a 10-part series on the works of Frank Brangwyn:

1910 Via del Trombe, Messina
etching on paper 54 x 59.5 cm

1910 The card players
oil on canvas 140.5 × 177.6 cm
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

1910 Shrine of the Immacolata
etching on paper 57.8 x 73 cm
William Morris Gallery, London

1910 Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
front cover, published by T.N. Foulis

1910 Old Houses, St. Cirq
etching in black on paper 36.8 x 28.6 cm (plate)

c1910 Bridge at Alcantara
etching, aquatint and drypoin on laid paper 33 x 43 cm

c1910-17 Gallino, Navarre
watercolour over conté crayon on paper 51.8 x 59.5 cm
Queenland Art Galley of Modern Art, Brisbane, Australia

c1910 Beer Porters, study for Lloyds Register of Shipping
charcoal and chalk on paper, squared 73 x 120 cm

c1910 Unloading oranges at London Bridge
lithograph on paper 58 x 84.7 cm
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

c1910 The Shipbuilders
oil on canvas 92.1 x 203.5 cm
Lady Lever Art Gallery, Wirral, UK

c1910 The building of the Frigate: an Old-Time Shipyard
oil on canvas 40,6 x 61 cm

1910c Old Houses, Taormina
oil on canvas 36.2 x 49 cm
William Morris Gallery, London

c1910s Shepherd and flock in a snow-swept landscape
(Used as a greeting card by the artist and his wife)
woodcut on paper 19 x 25.4 cm
V&A Museum, London

c1911  Blast Furnace
lithograph on paper 13.8 x 20.3 cm

c1911 Garden of the Mosque of Süleyman, Constantinople
colour woodcut 17.6 x 21.5 cm
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio

1911 Valentre Bridge, Cahors
etching on paper 55.8 x 82.5 cm (plate)

1911 The Mountebank (Saltimbanque)
etching on paper 24 x 26.5 cm

1911 The Lot at Vers
etching on paper 13 x 16.5 cm

1911 Pont Neuf, Paris
etching on paper 75.5 x 55.5 cm

1911 Cannon Street Station, exterior
etching on paper 70 x 72.5 cm

1911 Cahors Cathedral
watercolour and gouache on paper  76 x 54 cm

1912 Santa Maria, Venice
etching on paper 44.5 x 15.2 cm

1912 Pont Vieux, Albi, France
watercolour and gouache over pencil 47 x 72.7 cm
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

1912 Notre Dame, Poitiers
etching and drypoint in black on wove paper
25 x 20.1 cm (plate)

1912 Mowers
wood engraving on paper 13 x 19 cm

1912 Breaking up of the Duncan
etching on paper 54.5 x 82 cm

1912 The Nativity
etching on paper 54.5 x 73 cm

1912 The Mowers
woodcut on paper 13.2 x 19.4 cm

1912 The Monument
etching and plate-tone printed in brown ink
70.6 x 45.3 cm (plate)
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

1912 Shipbuilding
woodcut on paper 16.9 x 13.3 cm

1912-23 Man playing Harmonium
 lithograph on paper 47 x 36 cm

1912-1923 Murals for the Chapel of Christ's Hospital School, Horsham, Sussex

Following the move of Christ's Hospital School from London to Horsham in Sussex completed in 1902 Aston Webb, the architect of the Tudor-Gothic Revival buildings turned to the artist Frank Brangwyn (1867-1956), with whom he had worked previously on large-scale projects, to decorate the Chapel. A decorative scheme was devised by the school's headmaster, A.W. Upcott to inspire and educate pupils, and Brangwyn's paintings in tempera illustrate incidents in the history of the Christian Church. The resulting sixteen murals, all but two measuring 14 by 8 feet, were completed between 1912 and 1923.

Oil & tempera on canvas.


The Martyrdom of St Stephen

The Conversion of Saint Augustine at Milan, AD 387

The Arrival of St Paul at Rome

Peter Standing up with the Eleven

Let the people praise thee O God, let all the people praise thee

John Eliot Giving Bibles to the Mohicans, 1660 AD

And the Men led Saul by the hand and brought him to Damascus

St. Wilfred, First Bishop of Selsey Teaching the South Saxons, AD 681

St. Paul Shipwrecked

St. Columba Landing at Iona

St. Augustine at Ebbsfleet

St. Ambrose Training the Choir at His Church in Milan, AD 385

St. Alban Martyr 

St. Patrick in the Forest

St. Aidan, Bishop of North Cumbria, AD 635 Training Boys



Monday, 19 May 2025

Frank Brangwyn - part 2

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 2 of a 10-part series on the works of Frank Brangwyn:

1904 The Skin Scrapers, No. 1
etching on paper 19.7 x 13.2 cm 

1904 The Road, Montreuil
 etching on paper 27.5 x 35 cm

1904 The Mill Wheel, Montreuil
etching in dark brown ink on paper 33 x 39.2
Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, British Columbia

1904 The Meat Market
woodcut on paper 20.6 x 18 cm

1904 Scaffolding, South  Kensington
 etching on paper 17.1 x 12.7 cm (plate)
The Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University, Illinois

c1904-05 The Rolling Mill
oil on canvas 165.1 x 541 cm
Leeds Art Gallery, Yorkshire, UK

c1904-05 The Blacksmiths
oil on canvas 165.1 x 205.7 cm
Leeds Art Gallery, Yorkshire, UK

1905 Blast Furnace
lithograph in brown ink on wove paper 24.9 x 21.5 cm (image)

1905 Barnard Castle
etching and drypoint with plate-tone printed in brown ink 37.9x 30.5 cm (plate)
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

c1905 Urban bridge scene
etching on paper 40 x x 35.5 cm
Queensland Art Galley of Modern Art, Brisbane, Australia

c1905 The Lord Mayor's Show in olden days
oil on canvas 52 x 62 cm
Guildhall Art Gallery, London

c1905 Fishmongers Wharf, London Bridge 
etching on paper 18.7 x 12.3 cm (plate)
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

1906 Santa Maria Della Salute
etching on paper 76.2 x 89 cm

1906 Old Houses (Ghent, Belgium)
etching on paper 55.5 x 60.8 cm
Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, Barcelona

1906 Modern Commerce
details not found

1906 Breaking up the Caledonia
etching on paper 54 x 80.1 cm (image)
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

1906 A Venetian funeral
oil on canvas 228.6 x 274.3 cm
Leeds Art Gallery, Yorkshire, UK

 
1906 Windmills, Bruges
etching in black on laid paper 47.9 x 52.7 cm (plate)

1906 Unloading bricks at Ghent
graphite and lithographic crayon on paper30.4 x 35.5 cm

1906 The Tow Rope
etching on pape 53 x 80 cm
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

1906 The Rialto, Venice
etching and drypoint in black 39 x 33 cm (plate)

c1906 The Spinners
oil on canvas 165.1 x 541 cm
Leeds Art Gallery, UK

c1906 Barges, Bruges
 etching on paper 35.2 x 37.5 cm

1907 The boatyard, Venice
etching on paper 49.3 x 70.1 cm (plate)
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

1907 Santa Maria
etching and plate-tone 27.7 x 36.8 cm (plate)
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

1907 Church of St Austrebert, Montreuil
etching, sandpaper ground on cream wove paper 52.6 x 62.8 cm
Queensland Art Galley of Modern Art, Brisbane, Australia

1907 Bridge, Barnard Castle
etching in brown on cream wove paper 44.5 x 55.5 cm (image)
Art Institute of Chicago, IL

1907 Boatbuilders, Venice
etching in brown on cream wove paper 51.8 x 65.6 cm (plate)

1908 Santa Maria Della Salute, Venice (through the rigging)
etching on paper 53 x 80.5 cm

1908 Old Hammersmith
etching and drypoint and plate-tone printed in black and brown ink 55.4 x 70,7 cm (plate)
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

1908 Mars and Venus
oil on canvas 116 x 153.7 cm
Hugh Lane Gallery, Dublin

1908 Cornfield, Montreuil
etching in brown & umber ink on paper 22.2 x 35.5 cm (image)
Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, British Columbia

1908 Apse of St. Walburgh, Furnes
etching on wove paper 37.5 x 42 cm

1908 A Café, Furnes
etching in black on laid paper 25.2 x 25 cm (plate)

c1908 The Old Kitchen, Bruges
oil on board 45 x 55 cm

1908 Windmill, Dixmuden
etching on paper 55 x 74 cm

1908 The Water Carrier
ink on paper 17.8 x 22.7 cm
Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum, Bournemouth, UK

1908 The Rajah's Birthday
oil on canvas 115.5 x 154.9 cm
 Leeds Art Gallery, UK

1908 The Inn of the Parrot
etching on paper 55.3 x 37.7 cm (image)
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

1908 The Black Mill, Winchelsea
etching, plate-tone and spit-biting printed in black and brown ink 57.7 x 68 cm (plate)
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

1909c Man with nude torso holding a sledgehammer
lithograph on paper 38.5 x 28 cm

1909 The Meat Market
woodcut on paper 34.8 x 51.6 cm

1909 Church of Notre Dame 
etching on paper 59 x 76.5 cm

designed 1910 Cabinet
cherry wood, coloured composition h.173 x w.136.5 x d.83 cm
V&A Museum, London

1910 Church of Il Spirito Santo, Messina
etching on paper 58.3 x 73.4 cm

1910 Bridge at Alcantara
etching, aquatint and drypoint on laid paper 33 x 43 cm

1910 A picnic in the woods
black chalk and watercolour heightened with touches of bodycolour, on brown paper 53.5 x 71.5 cm

1910 A gate of Naples
etching, drypoint and plate-tone printed in brown ink
52.9 x 45.4 cm (plate)
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

1910 A door, Cahors
etching printed in brown ink 16 x 22.6 cm (plate)
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne