Henry Bird (15 July 1909 – 16 April 2000) was an English artist fromNorthampton who paintedmurals and female nudes.[1][2][3] He went to theRoyal College of Art and then designed sets at theOld Vic,Sadler's Wells andEmbassy Theatre. He taught art history and drawing at theUniversity College of Wales and theNorthampton School of Art.
He was married to the actressFreda Jackson.
He was described in his obituary inThe Stage as "One of Britain's most distinguished and versatile artists".[4]The Times noted that he "was one of comparatively few artists to be thoroughly comfortable with the grand scale of ambitious public painting projects."[3]
In addition to his murals, he was particularly noted for his painting of nude women.[4] He draw and painted female nudes "preferably big and beautiful" tempting them with cream cakes, sherry and gin.[3]
Among his works are the theatrical murals on thesafety curtains atAshcroft Theatre (1982)[5] andRoyal Theatre (Northampton) (1978).[5] He also did church murals at St Andrew's Church, Kettering,[6]St Margaret's Church, Denton (1975–76),[7]All Saints' Church, Earls Barton (1935,rood screen), andSt Crispins Hospital,Danetree Hospital, andNorthampton Guildhall.[2]
Henry Bird and his art was the subject of a TV documentary byAnglia Television in 1981,[5] and had a posthumous exhibition devoted to him called "The Exceptional Henry Bird' in 2009 at theNorthampton Museum and Art Gallery.[8]
He was member of theArt Workers' Guild and theSociety of Painters in Tempera.[2] According toThe Independent, he was "showed widely, including the Tate Gallery and Victoria and Albert Museum".[2] He was granted in 1983, aCivil List pension for services to art.[1]
He was noted for his method of teaching drawing. His obituary inthe Times observed that "he demanded high standards of his pupils, requiring them to study, for months, a brick, a milk bottle and an egg. In their first class with him, students innocently surrendered their pencil rubber, which he then instantly ejected through a window on to the car park beneath."[3]
Themodernist architectWill Alsop recalls how Henry Bird taught him drawing with a brick.
"He gave me a brick, told me to draw it and promptly left the room. I proceeded to draw it with all its shadows. On his return he went into a rage and chastised me for destroying the vision with shading, shouting: 'What is wrong with a simple line?' He insisted that I redo the drawing with line only so that I could begin to see the brick and its proportions. I drew that brick for two three hour sessions per week, line only, for three months. Eventually, he admitted that I had mastered the brick and I was allowed to progress onto the tin can. After 18 months it was the nude model. His vision was one of economy of line and discipline. It worked."[9]
He was born an only child in a Northampton slum. His father Bill committed suicide after returning disillusioned from theFirst World War. He was a chorister atSt Peter's Church, Northampton. He later said that the "beauty of St Peter's capitals, and the skill with which they were carved, helped to point the way to the kind of life he wanted."[1] He initially worked in factories to fund himself as a student atNorthampton School of Art.[2]
After this he went to theRoyal College of Art where he won "the Painting and Portrait Prizes, the Continuation Scholarship and the Royal College's highest award, the Travelling Scholarship.."[2] Initially, he became headscene painter at theOld Vic and atSadler's Wells. He then was a lecturer in art history and drawing tutor, 1935–41, at theUniversity College of Wales. After a period as resident designer at theEmbassy Theatre in 1950 he then taught atNorthampton School of Art.[1] Among his students were the sculptorMalcolm Pollard[10] and the architectWill Alsop.[9]
According his obituary inThe Stage, "He was also something of a genuine eccentric, cutting an imposing figure with his flamboyant dress sense and usually seen around art colleges and galleries sporting a large fedora hat."[4]
He was married to the actressFreda Jackson to whom he was devoted and committed.[3] They had one son, Julian, a psychiatrist.[1] According to his obituary inThe Times, "His first sight of her was her face, suspended halfway up the stage curtain, painted green as a witch in a production of Macbeth at the Royal Theatre, Northampton. With typical decisiveness he said: 'That's the woman for me.'"[3]
Media related toHenry Bird (artist) at Wikimedia Commons