STENNETT, Michael

1946 - 2020

Michael Allan March Stennett was born at Farnborough, Hampshire on 25 June 1946, son of John Henry March Stennett (27 March 1919-15 June 2003), an army officer, and his wife Pamela Mary née Eyre (12 August 1921-19 June 2000), who married at Holy Trinity Church, Chesterfield, Derbyshire on 21 January 1941, and they moved back to Derbyshire in 1948. Michael was educated at St Anselm's Preparatory School, Bakewell, Derbyshire 1954-1960 then at Repton 1960-1963 followed by studies at Chesterfield College of Art 1963-1964 then at the theatre design department of Wimbledon School of Art 1964-1967. After time in Rome and then at the Neptune Theatre, Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1969 he became an independent theatrical designer. He designed for numerous productions including Australian Opera, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, The Royal Shakespeare Company but from 1990, Michael Stennett began to decline work, finally deciding to end his career in the theatre in 1994. In recent years, Stennett remained firmly at home in Suffolk, arranging exhibitions and accepting various commissions. Stennett's portrait paintings included several studies of Dame Joan Sutherland and members of her family and in 1993, the late H.M. the Queen commissioned a portrait drawing of Sutherland for the Order of Merit series at Windsor Castle. In 2004, Stennett was commissioned to do a portrait drawing of Canon John White, Precentor of St George's Chapel, Windsor. As an artist, he had his first solo show at Suffolk's Aldeburgh Cinema Gallery in 1999 with a second the following year, also showing at Adonis Art Gallery, London. His works are in the Royal Collection; the Victoria & Albert Theatre Museum; the New York Public Library and several performing arts museums around the world. He lived at Plantation Cottage, Yoxford, Suffolk where he was involved in launching and managing the Barnsdale Gallery at Yoxford which closed in 2004. Michael Allan March Stennett died at his home at Yoxford on 23 June 2020. The contents of his studio were sold at auction in February 2022 with the proceeds going to the charity Historic Royal Palaces.

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Works by This Artist