John Knapp-Fisher (August 1931 – 21 February 2015) was a British painter known particularly for his depictions of the coast of

Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and otherwise by the sea. Haverfordwest is the largest town and ...

West Wales West Wales () is a region of Wales. It has various definitions, either covering Pembrokeshire, Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire, which historically comprised the Welsh principality of ''Deheubarth'', and an alternative definition is to include Swa ...

. He worked from his studio in Croesgoch since 1967.Laura Chamberlai
''Arts Show profiles John Knapp-Fisher''
BBC Wales Arts, 3 August 2011. Retrieved 2011-11-06. He exhibited his paintings across Europe and also Africa and North America. In 1992 he was elected a member of the

Royal Cambrian Academy of Art The Royal Cambrian Academy of Art (RCA) is a centre of excellence for art in Wales. Its main gallery is located in Conwy and it has over a hundred members. 240px, Plas Mawr, Conwy Early history During the 19th century there were numerous attempt ...

.Karen Pric
''Exhibition by artist John Knapp-Fisher''
Western Mail, 31 October 2008. Retrieved 2011-11-06.

Early life

John Knapp-Fisher was born in 1931, the son of Arthur Bedford Knapp-Fisher, Professor of Architecture at London's

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public university, public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City, London, White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design uni ...

.John Knapp-Fisher websit
Home
Retrieved 2011-11-06, John was educated at the Maidstone College of Art where he studied

graphic design Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art that involves creating visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdisciplinary branch of ...

.Karen Pric
''80th birthday exhibition for John Knapp-Fisher''
Western Mail, 29 July 2011. Retrieved 2011-11-06. Subsequently he worked in exhibition design and theatre design, but also began painting. In 1965 he moved to Pembrokeshire,

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

Career

Knapp-Fisher claimed he painted every day. "I tell students to do something every day – even if it’s a quick thumbnail sketch... Rather like a dancer has to practise every day, a painter has to oil the hinges by doing little drawings." He preferred to paint from notes and drawings in his sketchbooks, rather than from photographs. As a result his favorite subjects were local to his studio, for example Porthgain Harbour. Knapp-Fisher's largest exhibition was in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

, South Africa, where he displayed over 60 paintings. To mark his 80th birthday in August 2011, Knapp-Fisher was featured on the

BBC Radio Wales BBC Radio Wales is a Wales, Welsh national radio station owned and operated by BBC Cymru Wales, a division of the BBC. It began broadcasting on 13 November 1978, replacing the Welsh opt-out service of BBC Radio 4. As of August 2022, the stat ...

Arts Show. He also held an exhibition of new paintings at the Martin Tinney Gallery in

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

Personal life

Knapp-Fisher once spent 5 years living on a boat in

East Anglia East Anglia is an area of the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, with parts of Essex sometimes also included. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, ...

. He resided in Croesgoch with his partner, Gillian Pare. Knapp-Fisher died at Withybush Hospital,

Haverfordwest Haverfordwest ( , ; ) is the county town of Pembrokeshire, Wales, and the most populous urban area in Pembrokeshire with a population of 14,596 in 2011. It is also a Community (Wales), community consisting of 12,042 people, making it the secon ...

in February 2015 age 83.

References

External links

Official websiteThe Guardian obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Knapp-Fisher, John Artists from London 1931 births 2015 deaths