Norman Charles Blamey (16 December 1914 – 17 January 2000) was an English painter, noted latterly for his

portrait A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face is always predominant. In arts, a portrait may be represented as half body and even full body. If the subject in full body better r ...

s and depictions of Church ritual.

Life

Blamey was educated at Holloway School,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, and then at the

Regent Street Polytechnic The University of Westminster is a public university, public university based in London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1838 as the Royal Polytechnic Institution, it was the first Polytechnic (United Kingdom), polytechnic to open in London. The Po ...

School of Art (1931–1937). He went on to teach at the Polytechnic – interrupted by military service during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

– moving to the Chelsea School of Art (now the

Chelsea College of Art and Design Chelsea College of Arts is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London, a public art and design university in London, England. It offers further and higher education courses in fine art, graphic design, interior design, prod ...

) in 1963. He exhibited regularly at the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

, and became an Associate in 1970 and an Academician in 1975; from then on he was a Visiting Lecturer at the Academy Schools, also teaching at The Prince of Wales's Institute of Architecture in the early 1990s.Prince of Wales's Institute of Architecture Annual Report 1992-93. In 1948 he married one of his students, Margaret Kelly, and in 1950 had a son, the philosopher and logician Stephen Blamey. In 1998 he was awarded the

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

Work

Blamey's style, though varying slightly at different periods, was generally a meticulous realism. He was influenced by

Stanley Spencer Sir Stanley Spencer, CBE Royal Academy of Arts, RA (30 June 1891 – 14 December 1959) was an English painter. Shortly after leaving the Slade School of Art, Spencer became well known for his paintings depicting Biblical scenes occurring as if ...

(1891–1959), as well as by 15th-century Flemish art. The latter part of his career was marked by a series of portrait commissions, and his work can be seen in the Halls of a number of

Colleges of the University of Oxford The University of Oxford has 36 colleges within universities in the United Kingdom#Traditional collegiate universities, colleges, three societies, and four permanent private halls (PPHs) of religious foundation. The colleges and PPHs are autonom ...

. Blamey's frequent depiction of the rituals of the Mass reflect his long connection with

St Pancras Old Church St Pancras Old Church is a Church of England parish church on Pancras Road, Somers Town, London, Somers Town, in the London Borough of Camden. Somers Town is an area of the ancient parish and later Metropolitan Borough of St Pancras, London, St ...

, where he was an altar server.

References

External links

*
"Norman Blamey"
— The Guardian Obituary

— Artcyclopedia
"Norman Blamey"
— illustrated list of works at 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 ...

"Norman Blamey"
— the-artists.org
The Art Fund — Art SavedGovernment Art CollectionSouthampton Online
— "Vesting Priest with Apparelled Amice", with critical comments

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blamey, Norman Charles 1914 births 2000 deaths 20th-century English painters English male painters English modern painters Royal Academicians 20th-century English male artists Alumni of the Regent Street Polytechnic Officers_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire

Life

Work

References

Further reading

External links