Martin Bradley (1931 – 24 April 2023) was a British painter.

Biography

Martin James Bradley was born in Richmond in SW London, England on 11 April 1931. He attended St Paul's School, but ran away to sea aged 14, serving as a

cabin boy A cabin boy or ship's boy is a boy or young man who waits on the officers and passengers of a ship, especially running errands for the captain. The modern merchant navy successor to the cabin boy is the steward's assistant. Duties Cabin boys ...

. Martin married his first wife in the 1950s and has two children and three grandchildren from this marriage. He married his second wife in 1975. He held his first

solo exhibition A solo show or solo exhibition is an art exhibition, exhibition of the work of only one artist. Rather than a group of artists who collaborate to form an exhibition. The artwork may be paintings, drawings, etchings, collage, sculpture, or photogr ...

in 1954 at Gimpel Fils, then exhibiting at Gallery One and the

Redfern Gallery The Redfern Gallery is an exhibition space in the West End of London specialising in contemporary British art. It was founded by Arthur Knyvett-Lee and Anthony Maxtone Graham in 1923 as an artists' cooperative on the top floor of Redfern H ...

in London. In the early 1960s, he exhibited at the Rive Gauche Gallery in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

a number of times. London galleries that continue to champion his work include The Nine, Crane Kalman, England & Co and the Grosvenor Gallery in conjunction with James Huntington-Whiteley Fine Art. Bradley is known for abstract and symbolic artworks, influenced by the

calligraphy Calligraphy () is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instruments. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "the art of giving form to signs in an e ...

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and

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, as well as

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

, to which he converted. Bradley's works are held in the

Tate Gallery Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the UK ...

collections in London, UK, and the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

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, USA. His works have been collected by Dame

Barbara Hepworth Dame Jocelyn Barbara Hepworth (10 January 1903 – 20 May 1975) was an English artist and sculptor. Her work exemplifies Modernism and in particular modern sculpture. Along with artists such as Ben Nicholson and Naum Gabo, Hepworth was a leadin ...

, Sir

Roland Penrose Sir Roland Algernon Penrose (14 October 1900 – 23 April 1984) was an English artist, historian and poet. He was a major promoter and collector of modern art and an associate of the surrealists in the United Kingdom. During the Second World ...

, and Sir

Herbert Read Sir Herbert Edward Read, (; 4 December 1893 – 12 June 1968) was an English art historian, poet, literary critic and philosopher, best known for numerous books on art, which included influential volumes on the role of art in education. Read wa ...

. He has been exhibited by the Paisnel Gallery in London. Bradley died on 24 April 2023.

References

1931 births 2023 deaths Painters from the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames People educated at St Paul's School, London 20th-century English painters 21st-century English painters 21st-century English male artists British abstract painters English Buddhists Buddhist artists People from Richmond, London {{England-painter-stub