Brian Hargreaves

FRSA The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, commonly known as the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), is a learned society that champions innovation and progress across a multitude of sectors by fostering creativity, s ...

FRES Fres () is a village and former municipality in the Chania regional unit, Crete, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it is part of the municipality Apokoronas, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit has an area of . The ...

(1935-2011) was an English artist and scientific illustrator, known for his depictions of

Lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) or lepidopterans is an order (biology), order of winged insects which includes butterflies and moths. About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera have been described, representing 10% of the total described species of living organ ...

Early life

Hargreaves was born on 27 May 1935 at

Sutton-in-Craven Sutton-in-Craven is a village, Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom, electoral ward and (as just Sutton) a civil parish in the county of North Yorkshire, England that is situated in the River Aire, Aire Valley between Skipton an ...

, Yorkshire. He was educated at Keighley Grammar School, Keighley School of Arts and Crafts and

Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts Camberwell College of Arts is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London, a public art and design university in London, England. The college offers further and higher education programmes, including postgraduate and PhD awards. ...

. While at Camberwell he lived with his uncle, the internationally respected entomological artist, Arthur Smith. At Camberwell he met Joyce, who later became his wife. They were each awarded the National Diploma of Design there. As well as working as an artist and illustrator in her own right, she subsequently worked with him on some of his publications.

Career

Hargreaves early career was in church restoration; he

gilded Gilding is a decorative technique for applying a very thin coating of gold over solid surfaces such as metal (most common), wood, porcelain, or stone. A gilded object is also described as "gilt". Where metal is gilded, the metal below was tradi ...

the

lantern A lantern is a source of lighting, often portable. It typically features a protective enclosure for the light sourcehistorically usually a candle, a oil lamp, wick in oil, or a thermoluminescence, thermoluminescent Gas mantle, mesh, and often a ...

ball and cross that sits on top of the dome of

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Paul the Apostle, is an Anglican cathedral in London, England, the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London in the Church of Engl ...

. He became the first artist to illustrate every one of the butterflies of Britain and Europe, doing so in the book ''Butterflies of Britain and Europe'', which was eventually published in nine languages, and in the United States. As a result, his work was exhibited at the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...

in Washington, D.C. He illustrated ''Butterflies on My Mind'' (1978) for the actress

Dulcie Gray Dulcie Winifred Catherine Savage Denison (''née'' Bailey; 20 November 1915 – 15 November 2011), known professionally as Dulcie Gray, was a British actress, mystery writer and lepidopterist. While at drama school in the late 1930s she met a ...

, who was also vice president of the British Butterfly Conservation Society. The book, which was designed by Joyce Hargreaves, won the ''

Times Educational Supplement ''TES'', formerly known as the ''Times Educational Supplement'', is a British weekly trade magazine aimed at education professionals. It was first published in 1910 as a pull-out supplement in ''The Times'' newspaper. Such was its popularity th ...

'' Senior Information Book Award. For his work on ''Pests, Diseases and Disorders of Garden Plants'', he was awarded the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr ...

's gold medal. Another was given for ''Field Guide of Caterpillars and Their Food Plants'', which he illustrated. In 1997 he undertook a commission to draw the

Natural History Museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history scientific collection, collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, Fungus, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleo ...

's wildlife garden. He designed several series of

porcelain Porcelain (), also called china, is a ceramic material made by heating Industrial mineral, raw materials, generally including kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The greater strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to oth ...

ornaments, modelled on butterflies, for

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. He enjoyed fellowship of the

Royal Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, commonly known as the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), is a learned society that champions innovation and progress across a multitude of sectors by fostering creativity, s ...

, the

Royal Entomological Society The Royal Entomological Society is a learned society devoted to the study of insects. It aims to disseminate information about insects and to improve communication between entomologists. The society was founded in 1833 as the Entomological S ...

, and the

Free Painters and Sculptors Free Painters and Sculptors (FPS) is an artist-led organisation based in London, England, which regularly exhibits every year. It played a pivotal role in the establishment of abstract art in the 1950s and 1960s. History Background FPS ...

, as well as membership of the Guild of Lettering Craftsmen. Hargreaves died on 30 September 2011, following a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

. At that time, he and Joyce were living in

Playden Playden is a village and civil parish in the Rother district of East Sussex, England. The village is located one mile (1.6 km) north-west of Rye. History Playden is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Pleidena, having 37 households ...

, East Sussex. His funeral was held at Hastings Crematorium.

Legacy

Eighty-eight of his drawings, mostly

watercolours Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin 'water'), is a painting method"Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to the S ...

, are in the collection of the Natural History Museum. His works have been used on the

postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail). Then the stamp is affixed to the f ...

s of

Cocos (Keeling) Islands The Cocos (Keeling) Islands (), officially the Territory of Cocos (Keeling) Islands (; ), are an Australian external territory in the Indian Ocean, comprising a small archipelago approximately midway between Australia and Sri Lanka and rel ...

Gabon Gabon ( ; ), officially the Gabonese Republic (), is a country on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa, on the equator, bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, the Republic of the Congo to the east and south, and ...

Norfolk Island Norfolk Island ( , ; ) is an States and territories of Australia, external territory of Australia located in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and New Caledonia, directly east of Australia's Evans Head, New South Wales, Evans Head and a ...

, and

Togo Togo, officially the Togolese Republic, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to Ghana–Togo border, the west, Benin to Benin–Togo border, the east and Burkina Faso to Burkina Faso–Togo border, the north. It is one of the le ...

. He supplied work to

Royal Mail Royal Mail Group Limited, trading as Royal Mail, is a British postal service and courier company. It is owned by International Distribution Services. It operates the brands Royal Mail (letters and parcels) and Parcelforce Worldwide (parcels) ...

for a set of United Kingdom postage stamps, depicting two-spot ladybirds, but these were not used. His painting ''Butterfly: Large Blue'' is in the

Royal Collection The Royal Collection of the British royal family is the largest private art collection in the world. Spread among 13 occupied and historic List of British royal residences, royal residences in the United Kingdom, the collection is owned by King ...

. It was a gift to

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

from the Royal Entomological Society in 2002, to mark her Golden Jubilee.

Bibliography

Books illustrated by Hargreaves include: * * ** * * Various (1976) ''

The Moths and Butterflies of Great Britain and Ireland ''The Moths and Butterflies of Great Britain and Ireland'' (abbreviated to ''MBGBI'' or ''MOGBI'') is a multi-volume reference work on the Lepidoptera of the British Isles. The original publisher of this series was Curwen Books who published vo ...

'' (several volumes) * * * He wrote and illustrated: * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hargreaves, Brian 1935 births 2011 deaths 20th-century English painters 21st-century English painters 21st-century English male artists English illustrators English lepidopterists Fellows of the Royal Entomological Society People from Craven District Artists from North Yorkshire Alumni of Camberwell College of Arts People from Rother District