Peter Folkes
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Peter Leonard Folkes (3 November 1923 – 7 January 2019) was an English painter.


Education and early life

Peter Folkes was born in
Beaminster Beaminster ( ) is a town and civil parish in Dorset, England, approximately northwest of the county town Dorchester. It is sited in a bowl-shaped valley near the source of the small River Brit. The population of Beaminster parish was recorded ...
, Dorset, England in November 1923 along with his twin brother, Brian Frederick Folkes, to Leonard Frederick Folkes and Dorothy Folkes (née Tall). He studied painting at the
West of England College of Art The University of the West of England (also known as UWE Bristol) is a Public university, public research university, located in and around Bristol, England, UK. With more than 39,912 students and 4,300 staff, it is the largest provider of hi ...
, Bristol (1941–50) with his education being interrupted, though not curtailed, by the
Second World War 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 ...
.


Career

Military service, in
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 ...
, took Folkes to Africa, Sicily and Italy, as a draughtsman in the
Signal Corps A signal corps is a military branch, responsible for military communications (''signals''). Many countries maintain a signal corps, which is typically subordinate to a country's army. Military communication usually consists of radio, telephone, ...
; he was mentioned in dispatches. In September 1950 Folkes became senior art-master at King Edward VI School, Southampton and later, after a year painting in America on a
Goldsmiths A goldsmith is a metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Modern goldsmiths mainly specialize in jewelry-making but historically, they have also made silverware, platters, goblets, decorative and serviceable ...
Travelling Scholarship, awarded in 1963, he took up the post of lecturer in painting at
Southampton College of Art Southampton Solent University (formerly and commonly known as Solent University) is a public university based in Southampton, United Kingdom. It has approximately 10,500 students (2019/20). Its main campus is located on East Park Terrace near ...
in 1964. In 1989 he became Head of Fine Art at the Southampton Institute of Higher Education where he worked until retirement. (Southampton College of Art was merged, leading to the Southampton Institute of Higher Education which, in turn, became the present
Southampton Solent University Southampton Solent University (formerly and commonly known as Solent University) is a public university based in Southampton, United Kingdom. It has approximately 10,500 students (2019/20). Its main campus is located on East Park Terrace near ...
).


Works

Peter Folkes began painting local scenes of Southampton when he moved there in 1950. His early sketches and paintings are of the estuaries of the rivers
Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film) ...
and Itchen, boatyards, the docklands and
Southampton Water Southampton Water is a tidal estuary north of the Solent and the Isle of Wight in England. The city of Southampton lies at its most northerly point, where the estuaries of the River Test and River Itchen meet. Along its salt marsh-fringed we ...
. In the late 1950s Folkes experimented with the range of new materials becoming available. His fascination with old weathered gravestones, their carvings and inscriptions, too, developed at this time. Church spires appear in his later, much more
Cubist Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement which began in Paris. It revolutionized painting and the visual arts, and sparked artistic innovations in music, ballet, literature, and architecture. Cubist subjects are analyzed, broke ...
, water-colours. Visits to
Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...
in the early 1960s resulted in a series of works that show a shift towards
Modernism Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...
. Folkes, here, used a limited palette of blues and browns to describe the quarries and cliffs. In 1964, whilst in America, a series of paintings emerged, inspired by the regular geometry of skyscrapers. Graham Blakesley of Gable Contemporary Art has written: ''“Spanning sixty years of artistic output across the 20th century, the influences on Peter Folkes are eminently identifiable in his work. From the academic discipline of the Classical Renaissance to the French
Impressionists Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage of time), ordinary subjec ...
, from the mid-century
Abstract Expressionists Abstract expressionism in the United States emerged as a distinct art movement in the aftermath of World War II and gained mainstream acceptance in the 1950s, a shift from the American social realism of the 1930s influenced by the Great Depressi ...
through to Pop Art and
social realism Social realism is work produced by painters, printmakers, photographers, writers, filmmakers and some musicians that aims to draw attention to the real socio-political conditions of the working class as a means to critique the power structures ...
of the sixties, Peter has always retained an ability to absorb ongoing external influences only to process his own personal style which re-emerges with artistic interest."'' For the RWA Academicians' Questionnaire of October 2000, Peter Folkes said: ''"During the last twenty-five years I have been strongly influenced by Cubist painters, in particular
Lyonel Feininger Lyonel Charles Adrian Feininger (; July 17, 1871January 13, 1956) was a German-American painter, and a leading exponent of Expressionism. He also worked as a caricaturist and comic strip artist. He was born and grew up in New York City. In 1887 h ...
,
Charles Demuth Charles Henry Buckius Demuth (November 8, 1883 – October 23, 1935) was an American painter who specialized in watercolors and turned to oils late in his career, developing a style of painting known as Precisionism. "Search the history of Amer ...
and
Raoul Dufy Raoul Dufy (; 3 June 1877 – 23 March 1953) was a French painter associated with the Fauvist movement. He gained recognition for his vibrant and decorative style, which became popular in various forms, such as textile designs, and public build ...
during his Cubist period. Also the water-colours of
Eric Ravilious Eric William Ravilious (22 July 1903 – 2 September 1942) was a British painter, designer, book illustrator and wood-engraver. He grew up in Sussex, and is particularly known for his watercolours of the South Downs, Castle Hedingham and othe ...
."''


Collections

The paintings of Peter Folkes are located in private collections and in the public collections of the
UK Government Art Collection The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It holds the responsibility for culture and sport, and some aspects of the media throughout the UK, such as broadcasting. I ...
,
Arts Council of Great Britain The Arts Council of Great Britain was a non-departmental public body dedicated to the promotion of the fine arts in Great Britain. It was divided in 1994 to form the Arts Council of England (now Arts Council England), the Scottish Arts Council (l ...
,
Southampton City Art Gallery The Southampton City Art Gallery is an art gallery in Southampton, southern England. It is located in the Civic Centre on Commercial Road. The gallery opened in 1939 with much of the initial funding from the gallery coming from two bequests, o ...
The Royal West of England Academy, the Universities of
Hull Hull may refer to: Structures * The hull of an armored fighting vehicle, housing the chassis * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a sea-going craft * Submarine hull Ma ...
,
Keele Keele is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire, England. It is approximately west of Newcastle-under-Lyme, and is close to the village of Silverdale. Keele lies on the A53 road from Newcastle to ...
,
Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...
, Southampton (both
Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...
and
Solent The Solent ( ) is a strait between the Isle of Wight and mainland Great Britain; the major historic ports of Southampton and Portsmouth lie inland of its shores. It is about long and varies in width between , although the Hurst Spit whi ...
), and King Edward VI School Southampton.


Awards and prizes

In 1952 he was elected an Associate of the
Royal West of England Academy The Royal West of England Academy (RWA) is Bristol's oldest art gallery, located in Clifton, Bristol, near the junction of Queens Road and Whiteladies Road. Situated in a Grade II* listed building, it hosts five galleries and an exhibition prog ...
and was made an Academician (RWA) seven years later. In 1963 he was awarded a
Goldsmiths A goldsmith is a metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Modern goldsmiths mainly specialize in jewelry-making but historically, they have also made silverware, platters, goblets, decorative and serviceable ...
Travelling Scholarship (USA). In 1969 he was elected a member of the
Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours The Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours (RI), initially called the New Society of Painters in Water Colours, is one of the societies in the Federation of British Artists, based in the Mall Galleries in London. History In 1831, the ...
after which he became vice-president in 1989. He was joint winner of the
Winsor & Newton Winsor & Newton (also abbreviated W&N) is an England, English manufacturing company based in London that produces a wide variety of fine art products, including acrylic paint, acrylics, oil paint, oils, watercolour painting, watercolour, gouache ...
painting prize in 1981 and 1983; in 1998 he won the prize for the best painting in the
Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours The Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours (RI), initially called the New Society of Painters in Water Colours, is one of the societies in the Federation of British Artists, based in the Mall Galleries in London. History In 1831, the ...
Exhibition.


Personal life

Peter Folkes married Muriel Giddings in
Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is southeast of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 88,000 as of 2023. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, charte ...
in September 1949. The following year, in 1950, Folkes and his wife moved to
Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...
where they lived thereafter. Folkes has two sons: Andrew born in 1953, and Richard born in 1950, plus six grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. He died in January 2019 at the age of 95.Peter Folkes RI, RWA, Hon. FCA obituary
/ref>


References


External links

*
Royal West of England Academy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Folkes, Peter L. 1923 births 2019 deaths 20th-century English painters 21st-century English painters 21st-century English male artists English male painters English watercolourists People from Beaminster Artists from Dorset British Army personnel of World War II Royal Corps of Signals soldiers 20th-century English male artists Military personnel from Dorset