Sir Frank Brangwyn RA (1867 - 1956)

Sir Frank Brangwyn RA (1867 - 1956)

RA Collection: People and Organisations

A prolific artist whose talents ranged across painting, illustration, mural-painting and designs for household objects, Frank Brangwyn produced over 12,000 works in his lifetime including several important public commissions.

Born in Belgium to English and Welsh parents, Brangwyn moved to London with his family in 1875. He attended Westminster City School and drew at the South Kensington Museum (now the V&A Museum) but is thought not to have had any formal art training. After meeting the Arts and Crafts designer Arthur Heygate Mackmurdo, Brangwyn was introduced to William Morris and worked at his firm from 1882 to 1884, where he learnt the principles of design and decorative arts. At the age of just 17, Brangwyn exhibited his first painting at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition.

In the 1890s, Brangwyn travelled to Europe, the Near East and South Africa. His travelling companions included fellow painters Arthur Melville, William Hunt and Dudley Hardy. At this time, Brangwyn began to incorporate brighter colours into his palette. In 1897, Brangwyn became a corresponding member of the newly-founded Vienna Secession and was one of a number of foreign artists invited to contribute to their first exhibition in 1898. Brangwyn had established an international reputation by this stage and from the early 20th century onwards he began to receive commissions for public murals including the apse of St Aidan’s Church in Leeds, the Royal Exchange in London, Christ’s Hospital School in Sussex and the Missouri State Capitol building, Jefferson City, USA. He was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy in 1904.

During the First World War, Brangwyn designed posters and produced prints that raised money for the war effort, also serving as the President of the Royal Society of British Artists (1913-18). Brangwyn was elected a full Royal Academician in 1919 and his public success led to a commission in 1925 for a group of large canvases to be hung in the Royal Gallery of the House of Lords as a memorial to the peers and their family members who had perished in the conflict. However, Brangwyn’s initial designs were considered too grim and he was asked to start on a new scheme celebrating the people of the colonies who had fought in the British army. However, the finished works - ten paintings known as the British Empire panels - were eventually rejected on account of their flamboyant colour and liveliness and were instead donated to Swansea where they still hang in the Guildhall.

Brangwyn suffered from ill-health and depression and his outlook became increasingly pessimistic as he got older. He began disposing of his possessions during the 1930s, donating vast numbers of works to museums including the British Museum and the William Morris Gallery. He focussed on religious subjects at this time as well as producing furniture and ceramic designs. In later life, Brangwyn lived in Ditchling in Sussex, producing art according to his own sensibilities and disregarding contemporary trends. His unique artistic abilities were recognised with a knighthood in 1941, and in 1952 he was the first living Academician to have a full retrospective at the RA. He died in 1956.