BOWYER, William

1926 - 2015

Arthur William Bowyer was born in Leek, Staffordshire on 25 May 1926, son of Frank Bowyer (16 September 1900-1963), a colliery worker, and his wife Agnes Marie née Donaway (10 August 1899-1947), who married at Leek in 1920 and in 1939 were living at 116 Prime Street, Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent. During the Second World War, William was conscripted to work in a coalmine and after a long day at the colliery he would set off for Burslem School of Art, where he would try to catch some sleep before the life class started and where he exhibited his watercolours and in 1943 won first prize for his portraits. In 1945, he was accepted at the Royal College of Art, where his tutors included Ruskin Spear (1911-1990) and Carel Weight (1908-1997). In 1963 he won the City of London Art Award and was Head of Fine Art at Maidstone College of Art 1971–1982. In 1988 the National Portrait Gallery acquired his portraits of miner's leader Arthur Scargill and cricketer Viv Richards and in the same year the MCC commissioned him to paint the bi-centenary game at Lord's. A regular exhibitor in club and group shows and at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, but his first London solo show was not until 1983, when a retrospective was held at Messum Fine Art. His work is figurative with strong influences from predecessors such as John Constable and Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851) and his landscapes concentrate on the River Thames and the Suffolk coast around Walberswick, but his love of cricket also leads to his paintings. His links with Walberswick began in 1959 when he and Alfred Heyworth (1926-1976), were touring East Anglia with a painting kit and later he and his family spent long holidays in a caravan on the edge of the marsh, progressing to a house in the village to which he added a purpose-built studio. Elected an Associate of the Royal Academy of Arts on 25 April 1974 and a Royal Academician on 24 March 1981 and his memberships include the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours and the Royal Society of Portrait Painters and was hon. secretary of the New English Art Club for 30 years. He married at Leek, Staffordshire in 1951, Vera Mary née Small and they had two sons, artists Francis D Bowyer (born 1952) and Jason Richard Bowyer (born 1957) and a daughter, Emma, they lived at 12 Cleveland Avenue, Chiswick, London, spending the six summer months at Walberswick. His work is in collections including the Royal Academy of Arts, the Arts Council of Great Britain, Vancouver Art Gallery, Canada, Huffman and Boyle, New Jersey, the Museum at Lord's Cricket Ground, and The Royal Collection. Arthur William Bowyer died on 1 March 2015.

Royal Academy Exhibits
from 7 Cleveland Avenue, Chiswick, West London
1954 376 Girl with Long Hair
         588 Still Life
1955 624 Market Porters
1956 527 The Waitress
         588 Pontoon
         773 Town Pier
1957 454 Forest's Gallopers
         511 First Ride
         706 Flying Cockerels
1958 209 Short Back and Sides
         622 Interval
         634 Olympic Fair
1959 274 'Miserable Weather Sir!'
         511 In Between the Rides
1960 177 The Birdcage
         541 'What next?'
1961 459 Dolls, Dogs and Lions
         528 Wimpey Bar
1962 134 The Riders
         363 Hammersmith Market
         402 Shooting Gallery
1963 98 Mr Harry Coussins
         141 The Florist
         324 Fishmonger, Hammersmith Market
1964 77 The Marksman
         273 Mrs Florence Butler
         293 Ted Thompson of Walberswick
1965 149 The Archer
         159 Miss Beal
1966 806 Street Market Cafe
         848 Spring Flowers
         1445 Mackenzie Kenneth MacNab
1967 545 Mrs Valerie Petroni
         552 Mother
1968 536 Miss Sage
         543 Mr Philip J. Murphy
         1032 Francis Bowyer
1969 93 Market Cafe
         96 Miss Jane Hodgson
         1009 Rex Regis, Esq.
1970 1003 The Grove Hairdresser
1971 515 The Visitor
         520 The Window
1972 47 Sidney Morgan, Esq.
         484 Night Visitor
         937 Garden Window
1973 493 The Godmother
         504 The Garden Door
         626 William Sharp, Esq.
1974 83 The Secret
         89 French Window
         896 The Sisters
1975 84 The Garden
         110 The Black Tree
         485 Girl in Blue
         514 Melbourne House
         578 The Open Door
         583 Jason and the Black Tree
1976 15 Ravenscourt Park
         16 Studio Garden
         17 Girl in a Straw Hat
         18 Studio Interior
         19 Claude O. Walker, Esq.
         20 The Open Door
1977 869 Professor E. J. Richards
         871 Kitchen Door
         872 King Street, Hammersmith
         873 Ravenscourt Park
         874 The Black Tree
         876 Mrs Linda Lambah-Stoate
1978 61 'A small Sherry please'
         90 Classic Bridge
         92 Cedar Tree
         488 Vera Small
         1186 Last Home
         1191 Riverside Gardens
1979 712 Emma
         716 Chiswick Mall
         724 Miss Stella Valeh
         781 Grande Allee
         791 The District Line
         1357 Man with a Pipe
1980 46 Sidney W. Morgan, Esq.
         52 Chiswick Mall
         78 The Gardener
         659 Riverside Gardens
         704 Piccadilly Line
         776 The Lovers
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014 987 New Tricks
         989 Are you ready for Lunch?
         1066 The Bridge over the Creek
         1069 Christine, Ready for the Winner
         1082 Evening, Walberswick
         1090 Waiting for the Ferry
the Late
2015 863 The Sisters
         866 My Garden
         867 From the Studio, Ravenscourt Park
         868 Last Self Portrait
         873 Dusk over the Blyth
         875 Waiting for the Ferry

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Works by This Artist