Deborah Brown (choreographer)
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Deborah Brown (27 September 1927 – 8 April 2023) was a Northern Irish sculptor. She is well known in Ireland for her pioneering exploration of the medium of fibre glass in the 1960s and established herself as one of the country's leading sculptors, achieving extensive international acclaim.


Early life

Deborah Brown was born 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 ...
,
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...
on 27 September 1927. Brown was an only child who became fascinated with nature during childhood years spent in
Cushendun Cushendun () is a small coastal village in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It sits off the A2 coast road between Cushendall and Ballycastle. It has a sheltered harbour and lies at the mouth of the River Dun and Glendun, one of the nine Glen ...
in the
Glens of Antrim The Glens of Antrim ( Irish: ''Glinnte Aontroma''), known locally as simply The Glens, is a region of County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It comprises nine glens, that radiate from the Antrim Plateau to the coast. The Glens are an area of outstand ...
. Her grandmother is credited with encouraging her artwork and supplying her with paints and materials from a young age. In 1934, her family moved to Cushendun into a house designed by Tom Henry, the brother of the painter Paul Henry.''Deborah Brown: from painting to sculpture'', 2005, p. 11 Brown credited her Mother for instilling in her a love of animals, and along with the rural life of picking potatoes, cutting hay and turf, left an indelible mark on her work.''Deborah Brown: from painting to sculpture'', 2005, p. 12


Education

Brown had her first informal art lessons from
James Humbert Craig James Humbert Craig (12 July 1877 in Belfast – 12 June 1944) was an Irish painter.Craig was born in Belfast to Alexander Craig, a tea merchant, and a Swiss mother, Marie Metzenen, from a family with a painting tradition. He was raised in ...
who lived locally. Brown was initially educated at
Belfast Royal Academy The Belfast Royal Academy (also known as ) is the oldest school in the city of Belfast, Northern Ireland. It is a co-educational, non-denominational voluntary grammar school in north Belfast. The Academy is one of 8 schools in Northern Ireland ...
and towards the end of the war she studied at Richmond Lodge School after the family had returned to Belfast. She also received private lessons at Sydney Smith's studio in Belfast in 1944–45 when she was still at school. In preparation for attending art college, Brown was instructed in art-history by James McCord.''Deborah Brown: from painting to sculpture'', 2005, p. 13 Brown studied landscape painting at Belfast College of Art in 1946 under
Romeo Toogood Romeo Toogood ''ARCA'' ''HRUA'' (6 May 1902- 11 August 1966) was an Ulster artist and teacher who specialized in landscape painting. Early life Romeo Charles Toogood was born in Belfast on 6 May 1902. He was the son of a stone-carver, Charles ...
and Newton Penprase before enrolling at the
National College of Art and Design The National College of Art and Design (NCAD) is Ireland's oldest art institution, offering the largest range of art and design degrees at undergraduate and postgraduate level in the country. Originating as a drawing school in 1746, many of t ...
in Dublin in 1947, to study painting for three years. In Dublin she studied under
Sean Keating Sean, also spelled Seán or Séan in Hiberno-English, is a male given name of Irish origin. It comes from the Irish versions of the Biblical Hebrew name ''Yohanan'' (), Seán (anglicized as '' Shaun/ Shawn/ Shon'') and Séan (Ulster variant; ang ...
, Maurice MacGonigal, Lucy Charles, and Professor Herkner who taught sculpture, and in addition she attended the National University under
Françoise Henry Françoise Henry (16 June 1902 – 10 February 1982) was a scholar of early Irish art, archaeologist, and art historian. While at University College Dublin (UCD), she founded the Department of History of European Painting in 1965, and was head u ...
to learn art-history. Brown joined a group with artist and musician Michael Morrow and friends, where she played bass
viol The viola da gamba (), or viol, or informally gamba, is a bowed and fretted string instrument that is played (i.e. "on the leg"). It is distinct from the later violin family, violin, or ; and it is any one of the earlier viol family of bow (m ...
, having been classically trained in piano and cello at a young age. After three years studying in Dublin she continued her studies in Paris, where she became interested in the primary colours of European Modernism.''Deborah Brown: from painting to sculpture'', 2005, p. 14 Brown stayed in Paris for three months lodging with a French family. She visited the
Jeu de Paume ''Jeu de paume'' (, ; originally spelled ; ), nowadays known as real tennis, (US) court tennis or (in France) ''courte paume'', is a ball-and-court game that originated in France. It was an indoor precursor of tennis played without racquets, ...
and the
Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...
, and became acquainted with the work of
Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...
,
Giacometti Alberto Giacometti (, , ; 10 October 1901 – 11 January 1966) was a Swiss sculptor, painter, draftsman and printmaker, who was one of the most important sculptors of the 20th century. His work was particularly influenced by artistic styles su ...
,
Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual arts, visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a drawing, draughtsman, printmaking, printmaker, ...
and de Staël amongst many others. As a student she was a frequent visitor to the Irish Exhibition of Living Art, the Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery, the National Gallery and Victor Waddington's gallery. Brown's abstract paintings were heavily influenced by the works of
Mark Rothko Mark Rothko ( ; Markus Yakovlevich Rothkowitz until 1940; September 25, 1903February 25, 1970) was an American abstract art, abstract painter. He is best known for his color field paintings that depicted irregular and painterly rectangular reg ...
,
Jackson Pollock Paul Jackson Pollock (; January 28, 1912August 11, 1956) was an American painter. A major figure in the abstract expressionist movement, Pollock was widely noticed for his "Drip painting, drip technique" of pouring or splashing liquid household ...
,
Antoni Tàpies Antoni Tàpies i Puig, 1st Marquess of Tápies, Marquess of Tàpies (; 13 December 1923 – 6 February 2012) was a Catalans, Catalan painter, sculptor, and art theorist. Life The son of Josep Tàpies i Mestre and Maria Puig i Guerra, Antoni T ...
,
Lucio Fontana Lucio Fontana (; 19 February 1899 – 7 September 1968) was an Italian Argentines, Argentine-Italian painter, sculptor, and theorist. He is known as the founder of Spatialism and exponent of Abstract art, abstract painting as the f ...
and William Scott.


Life and work

Upon returning to Belfast in 1951, Brown made preparations for her first solo exhibition at the CEMA Gallery, for which the poet
John Hewitt John Hewitt may refer to: * John Hewitt (priest) (died 1588), English Roman Catholic priest and Catholic martyr, beatified in 1929 * John Hewitt (antiquary) (1807–1878), English official * John Hill Hewitt (1801–1890), newspaper editor * John ...
contributed an introduction to the catalogue. The exhibition consisted of thirty-five oils which were predominantly landscapes, woodland scenes and rivers. In the same year Brown befriended
Alice Berger Hammerschlag Alice Berger Hammerschlag née Berger (18 February 1917 – 14 July 1969) was an Austrian artist. She settled in Belfast and while creating abstract paintings also had a number of creative and administrative roles in Northern Ireland. Biography ...
with whom she remained friends until her death in 1969. Brown was later asked by Kenneth Jamison, the Director of 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 ...
, to select a committee to oversee an arts bursary scheme set-up in memory of Berger Hammerschlag and which aided many younger artists to travel and to purchase equipment and materials.''Deborah Brown: from painting to sculpture'', 2005, p. 15 After seeing Brown's work in the Belfast Museum and Art Gallery, the Scottish Colourist John D Fergusson invited Brown to show at the British Council rooms in Glasgow in 1955. In the following year Brown had a solo exhibition of thirty-six paintings at The City Gallery in Belfast. The works were "carried out in a broad forceful expressionist manner and in non-naturalistic colour". Writing of Brown's abstraction in the 1959 annual exhibition of the Royal Ulster Academy Kenneth Jamison compares her to
Olive Henry Olive Henry ''HRUA'' (15 January 1902 -8 November 1989) was a Northern Irish artist known for her painting, photography and stained glass design. She was a founding member of the Ulster Society of Women Artists and is believed to have been the o ...
,
"Olive Henry is more decadent by instinct, a fine formaliser. Her pictures ''Man and Ropes'' and ''Riviera Port'', well defined and carefully abstracted, contrast in form with Deborah Brown's freer ''Oil Over Tempra, ic1959''. But I can not go all the way with Miss Brown's disregard for formal values. Regretably -for I respect this artist's sincerity of purpose- I find the result neither aesthetically pleasing nor purposefully communicative"
In 1956, Mary O'Malley having seen Brown's abstract paintings, asked Brown to paint some stage sets which had been designed by George Morrow, for the Lyric Theatre in Belfast. In 1960, Brown was appointed one of seven trustees of the newly formed Lyric Players Trust including TP Flanagan and John Hewitt. Her involvement with stage design and the creation of various props provoked her interest in sculpture.''Deborah Brown: from painting to sculpture'', 2005, p. 16 Brown travelled throughout the northern Italy in the 1960s, to Rome, Sienna, Florence and Ravenna, where she studied the works of
Botticelli Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi ( – May 17, 1510), better known as Sandro Botticelli ( ; ) or simply known as Botticelli, was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. Botticelli's posthumous reputation suffered until the late 1 ...
,
Donatello Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi ( – 13 December 1466), known mononymously as Donatello (; ), was an Italian Renaissance sculpture, Italian sculptor of the Renaissance period. Born in Republic of Florence, Florence, he studied classical sc ...
, Michaelangelo and Fontana. Brown became a member of 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 ...
and the
Women's International Art Club The Women's International Art Club, briefly known as the Paris International Art Club, was founded in Paris in 1900. The club was intended to "promote contacts between women artists of all nations and to arrange exhibitions of their work", and ...
in the early 1960s, and worked in her father's office to supplement her income. She went on to take her professional exams in Chattels and Fine Arts, providing her with an in depth knowledge of the history of furniture, silver, porcelain and painting, as well as the laws of surveying, bookkeeping and property. Brown was later to become a partner in the firm. In 1965, Brown gained a major commission from the architects Cruikshank & Seward for the
Ferranti Ferranti International PLC or simply Ferranti was a UK-based electrical engineering and equipment firm that operated for over a century, from 1885 until its bankruptcy in 1993. At its peak, Ferranti was a significant player in power grid system ...
Building in
Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
. These eight large panels marked Brown's final flirtation with pure abstraction. From the mid-sixties onwards Brown's work moved from creating papier maché reliefs on canvas to becoming increasingly three dimensional, and upon a suggestion from George MacCann, Brown began to work with fibre-glass.''Deborah Brown: from painting to sculpture'', 2005, p. 21 In 1966 she was introduced to the owner of the Hendricks Gallery where she secured a one-woman exhibition that same year.''Deborah Brown: from painting to sculpture'', 2005, p. 19 In 1969 Brown had a solo exhibition at the Arts Council of Northern Ireland gallery. Brown donated a picture to an exhibition to raise funds for victims of civil disturbances in Belfast in the autumn of 1969. The exhibition at Queen's University was organised by Sheelagh Flanagan and showed the work of T. P. Flanagan, William Scott and F E McWilliam, in addition to
Mercy Hunter Mercy Hunter ''HRUA PPRUA ARCA MBE'' (22 January 1910 – 20 July 1989) was a Northern Irish artist, calligrapher and teacher. Hunter was a founding member of the Ulster Society of Women Artists, where she was later to become president and she w ...
,
Carolyn Mulholland Carolyn Mulholland '' HRHA'', ''HRUA'' (born 1944) is an Irish sculptor. Life Carolyn Mulholland was born in 1944 in Lurgan, County Armagh. She attended the Belfast College of Art, and in 1965 was awarded the Ulster Arts Club prize for sculp ...
and more than twenty others. Brown was awarded the IR£400 ''Carroll Open Prize'' for painting at the Irish Exhibition of Living Art in 1970 for Fibreglass form on canvas, painted red and black. Brown served as chairperson of the Visual Arts Committee of the Arts Council throughout the 1970s. In 1973, Brown joined Theo McNab in representing Ireland at the
Cagnes-sur-Mer Cagnes-sur-Mer (, literally ''Cagnes on Sea''; ) is a French Riviera town near Nice that is in the Alpes-Maritimes department, in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, in southeastern France. Geography Cagnes-sur-Mer is a town in southeaste ...
International Festival. In 1982, the Arts Council delivered a major retrospective of her work hosted by the
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 ...
and the
Hugh Lane Municipal 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 ...
. Two years later Brown was invited to show with ROSC alongside 7 other Irish artists including Felim Egan, Barrie Cooke and Seán Scully which resulted in a further exhibition in the following year with the same artists, in the Armstrong Gallery in New York.''Deborah Brown: from painting to sculpture'', 2005, p. 24 Around the same time Brown retired from her father's firm and relocated back to Cushendun where she converted two outhouses into a studio.''Deborah Brown: from painting to sculpture'', 2005, p. 25 At this time Brown was working on mainly animals in wire and papier-maché and when
Sheelagh Flanagan Sheelagh Flanagan (25 December 1925 – 3 May 2018) was a Northern Irish actress, costume designer, artist's agent, gallery owner and peace activist. Early life Sheelagh Mabel Garvan was born in Belfast on Christmas Day 1925, the daughter of a ...
became her agent in Northern Ireland she cast her first sheep in bronze and fulfilled Lord Belmore's request to cast a life-size papier-maché goat in bronze. That goat who served as a model is known as ''Johann'', and was owned by the local vet in Cushendun until he was culled in the Foot and Mouth crisis of 2001. The bronze now sits on the same site as the animal normally sat, and has become a popular local landmark. Brown's animal sculptures were exhibited at Flanagan's Shambles Gallery in 1989. A Brown self-portrait was amongst 15 new exhibits inaugurated to the National Self Portrait Collection of Ireland in a show at the Kneafsey Gallery, Limerick, in spring 1987. The Solomon Gallery in Dublin hosted an exhibition of Brown's sculptures in November of the same year. In 2016, Brown was the recipient of the ''Mullan Gallery Prize'' for the best sculpture at the Annual Royal Ulster Academy exhibition at the Ulster Museum for her work ''The Visitor''.


Death

Brown died on 8 April 2023 in Donegal, having spent around two decades of her life in the town of
Ramelton Ramelton (; ), also Rathmelton, is a town and townland in County Donegal, Ireland. As of 2022, its population was 1,288. History Ramelton is situated at the mouth of the River Lennon, 11 km north of Letterkenny and 4 km south of Mi ...
. She was 95.


Legacy

Brown's work is included in many collections in Ireland and abroad, including the Ulster Museum, Raidió Teilifís Éireann,
Bank of Ireland Bank of Ireland Group plc () is a commercial bank operation in Ireland and one of the traditional Big Four Irish banks. Historically the premier banking organisation in Ireland, the bank occupies a unique position in Irish banking history. At ...
, the Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery, the
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 ...
, the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, and the National Self Portrait Collection of Ireland.


Selected works

*''Sheep on the Road'' (1991), Life-size bronze, originally commissioned by 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 ...
for their sculpture garden at Riddell Hall, Belfast. In 1999 it was purchased by Laganside Corporation, after relocation of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, and relocated to the entrance to the Waterfront Hall, Lanyon Place, Belfast.


Exhibitions

*1946 & 1949 Ulster Academy of Arts Exhibition: Belfast Museum & Art Gallery, Northern Ireland *1948 Royal Hibernian Academy Annual Exhibition, Dublin, Ireland *1949 Society of Women Artists 88th Annual Exhibition: RBA Galleries, London, England *1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1958, 1960 & 1961 Royal Ulster Academy Annual Exhibition: Belfast Museum & Art Gallery, Belfast, Northern Ireland *1951 Deborah Brown Oil Paintings: CEMA Gallery, Belfast, Northern Ireland *1954 Deborah Brown: The Mayfair Gallery, London, England *1955 CEMA Spring Exhibition: The Art Gallery, Stranmillis, Belfast, Northern Ireland *1955 Deborah Brown: The British Council, Glasgow, Scotland *1956 Deborah Brown: Belfast Museum and Art Gallery, Northern Ireland, curated by John Hewitt *1959 Deborah Brown: New Vision Art Centre, London, England *1959 Ulster Society of Women Artists: Belfast Museum & Art Gallery, Belfast, curated by James White *1959 Royal Ulster Academy Annual Exhibition: The City Gallery, Stranmillis, Belfast, Northern Ireland *1960 Ulster Society of Women Artists: Brown & Thomas' Little Theatre, Dublin, Ireland, curated by Fr. Jack Hanlon *1960 Contemporary Ulster Artists: CEMA Gallery, Belfast, Northern Ireland *1960 Deborah Brown & Alice Berger Hammerschlag: New Vision Art Centre, London, England *1960 Paintings & Drawings by Ulster Artists: The Lyric Players Theatre, Belfast *1961 The Visual Arts Group: Whitla Hall, Belfast. Northern Ireland *1961 Ulster Society of Women Artists: CEMA Gallery, Belfast, Northern Ireland *1961, 1966, 1968, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1976 & 1978 Irish Exhibition of Living Art: The National College of Art, Dublin, Ireland *1962 & 1969 Deborah Brown: the Arts Council of Northern Ireland Gallery, Belfast *1964 Deborah Brown: New Vision Art Centre, London, England *1964 Deborah Brown: the New Gallery, Belfast, Northern Ireland *1966 Deborah Brown: the Richie Hendriks Gallery, Dublin, Ireland *1966 Open Painting Exhibition, the Ulster Museum, Belfast, Northern Ireland, curated by the Arts Council of NI *1966 Art & Industry Exhibition: Royal Marine Hotel, Dun Laoghaire, Ireland *1967 Irish Exhibition of Living Art: the Ulster Museum, Belfast, Northern Ireland *1967 Four Ulster Artists: the New Gallery, Belfast, Northern Ireland *1968 & 1970 Open Painting Exhibition: Arts Council of Northern Ireland Gallery, Belfast *1968 Duchas: Exhibition of Ulster Artists, The Old Library Gallery, Queens University, Belfast, Northern Ireland *1973 Artist's Choice Exhibition: the Ulster Museum, Belfast, Northern Ireland *1974 Collection of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland Touring Exhibition: Eire Arts Council Gallery, Dublin, Ireland *1975 Oireachtas Art Exhibition, Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery, Dublin, Ireland *1976 Royal Ulster Academy Annual Exhibition: Ulster Museum, Belfast, Northern Ireland *1982 Deborah Brown: Ulster Museum, Belfast, & the Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery, Dublin, Ireland *1984 ROSC, Guinness Hop Store, Dublin, Ireland *1985 Nine Irish Artists from ROSC, Armstrong Gallery, New York, USA *1987 Soloman Gallery, Dublin *1989 Deborah Brown in the 80s: The Shambles Gallery, Hillsborough, County Down *2005 Deborah Brown: From Painting to Sculpture, Ava Gallery, Bangor, County Down, curated by Dr Hilary Pyle *2006 Cross Section: Sligo Art Gallery. Sligo, Ireland *2012 Ireland: Her People and Landscape, Ava Gallery, Bangor, County Down *2014 IRISH WOMEN ARTISTS 1870 - 1970, Ava Gallery, Clandeboye Estate, County Down


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Deborah 1927 births 2023 deaths 20th-century Irish women artists 20th-century Irish sculptors Alumni of the National College of Art and Design Alumni of Ulster University Artists from Belfast Sculptors from Northern Ireland Women sculptors from Northern Ireland Alumni of Belfast School of Art 20th-century painters from Northern Ireland Women painters from Northern Ireland Members of the Royal Ulster Academy People from Cushendun 21st-century painters from Northern Ireland 20th-century British women painters 21st-century British women painters 20th-century British women sculptors