Frank Brangwyn (1867 - 1956) British Artist and Designer

Frank Brangwyn featured image — Ceramic Vase by Frank Brangwyn

Frank Brangwyn (1867 – 1956) was a British Artist and Designer. He was born in Bruges and worked in London.

Prolific artist

Brangwyn was a multi-talented artist. He created designs for stained glass, furniture, pottery, glass tableware, buildings, and interiors in addition to paintings and sketches. He was also a lithographer, a woodcutter, and a book illustrator. Brangwyn is thought to have created over 12,000 works in his lifetime. He created over 1,000 oil paintings, over 660 mixed-media works (watercolours, gouache), over 500 etchings, about 400 woodcuts and engravings, 280 lithographs, 40 architectural and interior designs, 230 furniture designs, and 20 stained glass panels and windows for his mural commissions, which would cover more than 22,000 square feet (2,000 square metres) of canvas.

Biography

From 1882, through his friendship with Arthur H. Mackmurdo, he worked as a draftsman and designed tapestries for William Morris; in 1885, he rented a studio and showed his work for the first time at the Royal Academy; in 1895, he executed murals for the entrance of and a frieze in Siegfried Bing’s shop L’Art Nouveau, Paris; in 1900, designed a bedroom for E.J. Davies, the furniture of which was produced by Norman and Stacey, London. His designs, including furniture, textiles, and ceramics, illustrate his considerable knowledge of historical sources. The coromandel-like doors on his print cabinet, published in the 1914 Studio Year Book of Decorative Art, reflect Far Eastern influences and are close to his contemporary painting style. After the 1914 murals for the San Francisco international exposition, many commissions followed in the USA. In c1927, he designed tableware for Doulton; painted 1928—32 Empire Panels murals for the House of Lords, rejected in 1930 and installed in 1934 in the Guildhall, Swansea; in 1930, designed two chenille carpets woven by James Templeton and hand-knotted Donegals produced by Alexander Morton; in 1932, painted a mural at Rockefeller Center, New York, where other muralists included Diego Rivera and Jose Maria Sert; in 1933, designed the new facade of the Rowley Gallery, London, using carved wood panels depicting artisans at work over Portland stone. In 1936, the Brangwyn Museum was opened in Bruges. On the walls of Skinners’ Hall, London, he painted his 1937 Education and Charity. His work was revived following his 1952 Royal Academy exhibition, the first devoted to a living Academician.

Exhibitions

His work was first shown at the Royal Academy, London in 1885. Painting Buccaneers was shown at 1893 Salon, Paris. Painted murals for 1914 San Francisco ‘Panama-Pacific International Exposition.’ He designed the British Exhibits at 1905 Biennale di Venezia. He was knighted in 1941.

Sir Frank Brangwyn Designed for Pollards Store Fitters an Original Framed Poster

Frank Brangwyn a Rare Desk Originally Designed for the 1931 Pollard Exhibition

‘Unloading the Barges’ by Sir Frank Brangwyn

Authentic 1930 Art Deco Rug by Frank Brangwyn

Frank Brangwyn, Armchair for the Canadian Pacific Liner 'SS Empress of Britain'

Frank Brangwyn Royal Doulton Arts and Crafts Leaf and Berry Art Pottery Vase

Sources

Byars, M., & Riley, T. (2004). The design encyclopedia. Laurence King Publishing. https://amzn.to/3ElmSlL

British Design – Amazon

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OMK Design is a British design group. It was established in 1966 by Rodney Kinsman, Jerzy Olejnik, Bryan Morrison. They all trained at the London Central School of Arts and Crafts. The group produced its furniture, including its 1969 T5 chair.Read More →
Milner Gray (1899 – 1997) British Industrial & Graphic Designer

Gray was a fellow student and friend of artist-designer Graham Sutherland at Goldsmiths College School of Art, London University, where he studied painting and design. He served in the Royal Engineers during WWI when he was involved in camouflage work like other famous artists and designers from both wars. Read More →
Edwin Luytens (1869 – 1944) British Architect and Designer

In 1887, he joined the firm George and Peto, where he met Herbert Baker, later becoming a colleague in New Delhi. Richard Norman Shaw and Philip Webb influenced him.Read More →
Charles Ashbee (1863 – 1942) British furniture & Jewellery Designer

His design philosophy also played a role in reconciling the principles of honesty of construction and appropriate use of materials with mechanised production. Read More →
Omar Ramsden (1873 – 1939) British Silver designer

He was a leading silverware designer and manufacturer in England. He lived on Fir Street in Walkley, Sheffield, Yorkshire but worked in London for most of his career.Read More →
Sebastian Bergne (b. 1966) – English / Italian industrial designer

The phrase ‘less is more’ perfectly encapsulates the core of these works, the quality of which can only be attained by a proper understanding of form.Read More →
What was the Society of Industrial Artists in Britain?

The origins of the CSD lay in the creation in 1930 of the Society of Industrial Artists (SIA) in Britain, when the public debate was concerned with the nature and definition of both the designer and the design profession. Read More →
British Studio Ceramics a Short History

In Britain, the backlash against the highly ornamented machine-made ceramics that were fashionable in the late 1800s gathered steam. Art potteries were founded by a group of creative craftspeople who William Morris inspired.Read More →
Robo-Stacker early example of ‘Recycled Design’ Movement

Robo-Stacker early example of the ‘Recycled Design’ Movement. Whirlpool washing machine drums were used to create general-purpose storage.Read More →