(Frederick) George Campbell (29 July 1917 – 18 May 1979) was an Irish artist and writer. Though he grew up in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

, Campbell spent much of his adult life living and painting in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

and Dublin, Ireland.

Life

George Campbell was born in

Arklow Arklow ( ; ; ) is a town in County Wicklow on the southeast coast of Ireland. The town is overlooked by Ballymoyle Hill. It was founded by the Vikings in the ninth century. Arklow was the site of one of the Battle of Arklow, bloodiest battles ...

County Wicklow County Wicklow ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The last of the traditional 32 counties, having been formed as late as 1606 in Ireland, 1606, it is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the Provinces ...

,Kate Newman
Frederick George Campbell (1917 - 1979)
''Dictionary of Ulster Biography''. Accessed 12 January 2013. the son of

Gretta Bowen Margretta Bowen, best known as Gretta Bowen (1 January 1880 – 8 April 1981) was a self-taught Irish artist. She only started painting late in life, after her sons Arthur and George Campbell were already established as artists. Early life Altho ...

(1880-1981) and Matthew Campbell (1866-1925). He attended boarding school in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

(Masonic Orphan Boys’ School at Clonskeagh) before moving to

to live with his widowed mother and family. Campbell was working in an aircraft factory at the time of the

Belfast Blitz The Belfast Blitz consisted of four German air raids on strategic targets in the city of Belfast in Northern Ireland, in April and May 1941 during World War II, causing high casualties. The first was on the night of 78 April 1941, a small atta ...

, and began to paint, taking the bomb-damage as his subject. He was one of the founders of the

Irish Exhibition of Living Art The Irish Exhibition of Living Art (IELA; ) was a yearly exhibition of Irish abstract expressionism and avant-garde Irish art that was started in 1943 by Mainie Jellett. Background World War II Ireland During World War II, Ireland maintai ...

in 1943. In the same year along with his brother Arthur (1909-1994) he published a sixteen-page book entitled ''Ulster in Black and White'', that included drawings from the two brothers and their close contemporaries Maurice Wilks and Patricia Webb. Owing to the success of the original publication the brothers then published ''Now in Ulster'' (1944), an anthology of short stories, essays and poetry by young Belfast writers. Campbell held a joint exhibition at the William Mol Gallery, Belfast with his brother Arthur in 1944. In the same year he also showed with Gerard Dillon at the Portadown gallery of John Lamb. In 1946 he showed with the Victor Waddington Gallery in Dublin, where he was to return on a number of occasions. The Council for the Encouragement of Art and Music hosted a solo exhibition in 1949 where he was to show twice more, in 1952 and 1960. He won £500 at the first CEMA ''Open Painting Competition'' at the Ulster Museum in 1962. Campbell also showed in one-man exhibitions with the

Arts Council of Northern Ireland The Arts Council of Northern Ireland (Irish language, Irish: ''Comhairle Ealaíon Thuaisceart Éireann'', Ulster Scots language, Ulster-Scots: ''Airts Cooncil o Norlin Airlan'') is the lead development agency for the arts in Northern Ireland. It ...

in 1966 and 1972. After the war Campbell became increasingly interested in Spain. In 1946 he came to know Spaniards who had settled in Dublin, and when in London painted visiting Spanish dancers in their traditional costume. He first visited Spain in 1951, encouraged by his friendship with

Gerard Dillon Gerard Dillon (191614 June 1971) was an Irish painter and artist. Life Dillon was born in Belfast, he left school at the age of fourteen and for seven years worked as a painter and decorator, mostly in London. From an early age he was intere ...

and "an interest in bohemian characters". Dillon helped Noreen Rice who he met in 1951. She regarded both Dillon and Campbell as her mentors for decades and her work was of a similar surrealistic and primitive style. In the 1960s Campbell made his home in Ranelagh, Dublin on Florence Terrace, Leeson Park Avenue. Campbell lived in Spain for six months almost every year throughout much of the following twenty-five years. Campbell made

stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

windows for

Galway Cathedral The Cathedral of Our Lady Assumed into Heaven and St Nicholas (Irish language: ''Ard-Eaglais Mhaighdean na Deastógála agus Naomh Nioclás''), commonly known as Galway Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Galway, Republic of Ireland, Ire ...

. He also played

flamenco guitar A flamenco guitar is a guitar similar to a classical guitar, but with lower action, thinner tops and less internal bracing. It usually has nylon strings, like the classical guitar, but it generally possesses a livelier, grittier sound compared ...

. A member of the

Royal Hibernian Academy The Royal Hibernian Academy of Arts (RHA) is an artist-based and artist-oriented institution in Ireland, founded in Dublin in 1823. Like many other Irish institutions, such as the Royal Irish Academy, the academy retained the word "Royal" after mo ...

, he won the Douglas Hyde Gold Medal in 1966 and the Oireachtas Prize for Landscape in 1969. The Spanish government made him a Knight Commander of Spain in 1978.

Death & legacy

George Campbell died in Dublin in May 1979. He was survived by his wife Margaret, his Mother, and two brothers, Arthur and Stanley. After his death the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and An Chomhairle Ealáion joined with the

Instituto Cervantes Instituto Cervantes (, the Cervantes Institute) is a worldwide nonprofit organization created by the Spanish government in 1991. It is named after Miguel de Cervantes (1547–1616), the author of ''Don Quixote'' and perhaps the most important fi ...

to initiate the George Campbell Memorial Travel Award.Snoddy, Theo., (2002), p.71 In May 2017, Arklow Municipal District Council unveiled two plaques at St. Patrick's Terrace, Arklow, marking George's birthplace and 100 years since his birth. Campbell's work forms part of many private and public art collections, including

Queen's University, Belfast The Queen's University of Belfast, commonly known as Queen's University Belfast (; abbreviated Queen's or QUB), is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. The university received its charter in 1845 as part of ...

Ulster Museum The Ulster Museum, located in the Botanic Gardens in Belfast, has around 8,000 square metres (90,000 sq. ft.) of public display space, featuring material from the collections of fine art and applied art, archaeology, ethnography, treasures ...

Irish Museum of Modern Art The Irish Museum of Modern Art (), also known as IMMA, is Ireland's leading national institution for the collection and presentation of modern and contemporary art. It is located in Kilmainham, Dublin. History Irish art collector Gordon Lam ...

Hugh Lane Gallery The Hugh Lane Gallery, and originally the Municipal Gallery of Modern Art, is an art museum operated by Dublin City Council and its wholly-owned company, the Hugh Lane Gallery Trust. It is in Charlemont House (built 1763) on Parnell Square, Dub ...

The National Self-Portrait Collection of Ireland The National Self-Portrait Collection of Ireland is a collection of more than 400 self-portraits of Irish artists which is housed in the Kneafsey Gallery at the University of Limerick. The origins of the collection can be found in the purchase o ...

, and Municipal Museum of Antequera, Malaga.

Books

* ''Ulster in Black and White'', Belfast, Campbell, Arthur., and Campbell, George., 1943. * (ed. with Arthur Campbell) ''Now in Ulster'', Belfast: A. and G. Campbell, 1944. * (illus.) ''Guide to the National Monuments in the Republic of Ireland'', 1970. * ''An eyeful of Ireland'', Dublin: A. Figgis, 1973.

References

Sources

* Reihill, Karen
George Campbell & The Belfast Boys
Summer Loan Exhibition Catalogue, Adams (2015) * Reihill, Karen
Gerard Dillon, Art and Friendships
Summer Loan Exhibition Catalogue, Adams (2013)

External links

"Looking for George, Buscando a George"
documentary about the life and work of George Campbell
A selection of George Campbell's work in public collections
via ArtUK {{DEFAULTSORT:Campbell, George 1917 births 1979 deaths People from Arklow Artists from Belfast 20th-century Irish painters Irish male painters Stained glass artists and manufacturers Members of the Royal Hibernian Academy 20th-century Irish male artists People educated at Masonic Boys School, Dublin