Bernard Dunstan RA PPRWA (19 January 1920 – 20 August 2017) was a British artist, teacher, and author, best known for his studies of figures in interiors and landscapes.[1][2][3] At the time of his death, he was the longest serving Royal Academician.[4]

Bernard Dunstan
Born
Andrew Harold Bernard Dunstan

(1920-01-19)19 January 1920
Died20 August 2017(2017-08-20) (aged 97)
Education
Known for
  • Artist
  • teacher
  • author
Spouse
(m. 1949)
Children3
Parents
  • Dr Albert Dunstan (father)
  • Louisa Cleaverley (mother)
Elected
  • New English Art Club (1947)
  • RWA Academician (1940s)
  • Royal Academician (9 July 1968)
  • President of the RWA (1979–84)

Life and work

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Bernard Dunstan was born in Teddington, Middlesex, in 1920.[5] He studied at Byam Shaw School of Art in 1939, then at the Slade School of Fine Art in London from 1939 to 1941. In 1947 he was elected a member of the New English Art Club, and was president of the Royal West of England Academy from 1979 to 1984.[6] In 1968 he was made a full member of the Royal Academy.

Dunstan taught at the Royal West of England Academy in Bristol from 1946 to 1949, the Camberwell School of Art from 1950 to 1964, the Byam Shaw School from 1953 to 1974, the Ravensbourne Art College (now the Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication) from 1959 to 1964, and City and Guilds of London Art School from 1964 to 1969.

Artists whose influence inform his painting include Renoir, Bonnard, Vuillard, Walter Sickert, and Philip Wilson Steer.[7]

His works are represented in the National Portrait Gallery, the Royal Collection, Windsor, and the Museum of London. He has written a number of books on painting, including Painting Methods of the Impressionists (1976).

Personal life

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Dunstan was married to fellow painter and Royal Academician Diana Armfield,[8] who survived him. He is the father of the physicist Professor David Dunstan.[9]

He died on 20 August 2017, aged 97.[10][11]

References

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  1. ^ "Remembering Bernard Dunstan (1920-2017)". NEAC | New English Art Club. Archived from the original on 12 February 2023.
  2. ^ Masters, Christopher (10 September 2017). "Bernard Dunstan obituary". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 12 February 2023.
  3. ^ "Bernard Dunstan | Chris Beetles". Chris Beetles Gallery. Archived from the original on 12 February 2023.
  4. ^ Interview from Royal Academy Magazine, Spring 2006 Archived 30 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ Biography, Royal Academy Archived 5 January 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ RWA website Archived 4 April 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ RWA website
  8. ^ RA website
  9. ^ "Staff: Centre for Materials Research, Queen Mary, University of London". Archived from the original on 6 May 2011. Retrieved 2 August 2011.
  10. ^ Bernard Dunstan
  11. ^ "Bernard Dunstan obituary". TheGuardian.com. 10 September 2017.
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