Victor Noble Rainbird
1888 - 1936
Victor Noble Rainbird was born in North Shields in Northumberland, studied art at local evening classes under Ralph Walter Liddell and then at Armstrong College (now Newcastle University) under Richard George Hatton. He won a Silver Medal and was King’s Prizeman, his pictures were subsequently included in a Government staged exhibition in New Zealand, Canada, and Australia. He then attended the Royal College of Art under Prof. Lanteri and then the Royal Academy Schools where he won a Silver Medal.
His professional career as an artist was cut short by WW1 when he enlisted as a private in the Northumberland Fusiliers and had to stop painting.
After the war he resumed his professional career and in 1928 travelled to France and Belgium where the work he produced is considered to be some of his finest. This is one of these works. His work was exhibited in many of his local galleries and at the Royal Academy in London. He died after a short illness in 1936 and at the early age of forty seven.
Reg Gammon RWS ROI
1894-1997
Reg Gammon was born in Petersfield, Hampshire, on 9 January 1894 and was educated at Churcher’s College.
From 1911 he was apprenticed to the illustrator Frank Patterson. He declined a 1918 offer of a place at the Slade School of Fine Art, but nonetheless had a
successful career as a freelance illustrator and writer. For 60 years he wrote and illustrated a feature column for the Cyclists Touring Club’s Gazette. The dropping of another column, “In the
Open Air”, for Scout magazine, resulted in international protests and it was restored.
In 1930 he began to produce work for the News Chronicle. Travelling by motorcycle, he would attend horseracing at Goodwood or motor racing at Brooklands, make
sketches, and ride quickly back to London to deliver them. He also covered the Monte Carlo Rally.
During World War II he moved his family to South Wales, and became a hill farmer, managing 40 acres (16 ha) in the Llanthony valley near Abergavenny. He stayed there
for 20 years and was instrumental in the introduction of electricity supply and telephone services to Llanthony. He moved to Somerset in 1958 and became a full-time painter.
He originally painted in watercolour, but on holiday in his 60s, he began to use oil paint. His work was influenced by Paul Gauguin and he later worked in the
expressionist style. He was elected to the Royal West of England Academy (RWA) in 1966 and they held a retrospective of his work in 1985, and in 1986 he held the first of five one-man exhibitions
at the New Grafton Gallery in London. A further retrospective was held at the RWA to mark his 100th birthday.
He was a member of the Royal Watercolour Society and the Royal Institute of Oil Painters.
Gammon died at Bridgwater, Somerset on 22 April 1997, aged 103.
Dennis Syrett PPROI RBA RSMA SEA
Dennis Syrett started painting at the age of 32 and enjoyed his first major success four years later at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition in 1970. In 1971 he purchased a Fine Art retail business which the family still operates.
Painting became an all-absorbing interest for Dennis and leading galleries became increasingly anxious to promote him and his work. Acceptance at major London art society exhibitions became a regular occurrence.
With his increasing success, Dennis was able to devote more time to painting and was able to combine this interest with his love of travel. Regular exposure in London exhibitions brought further opportunities and thus a series of journeys and subsequent shows. Membership of the Royal Societies coincided with a number of successful one-man shows, where Dennis’s colourful oils received wide acclaim.
In spite of a heavy workload, Dennis maintains his links with adult education and has successfully taught painting for over twenty years. He is much in demand for talks and demonstrations. He was a member of the Wapping Group of Artists.
In 2004, Dennis was elected President of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters and is also a member of the Royal Society of British Artists, the Royal Society of Marine Artists and the London Sketch Club.
Henry A Bishop RA NEAC ROI
(1868 - 1939)
Painter of landscapes, coastal scenes and townscapes
Henry Bishop was born in London on 27th June 1868. He studied at the Slade School under Legros, in Paris at the Atelier Cormon and in Brittany with Alexander Harrison where he worked plein-air. In his early years he lived in Cornwall and was a member of the St Ives Group of Artists. He spent many years working abroad in Morocco, and a one man show of these later works was held at Goupil Gallery in 1913. He exhibited at the NEAC from 1915 and the RA from 1906. Elected NEAC in 1929 ARA in 1932 and RA in 1939. His painting “Shakespeare’s Cliff, Dover” was purchased by the Chantrey Bequest for the National Gallery in 1933. Henry Bishop died in London on 6th March 1939.
The label on the frame of this picture bears his name and address as 143 Church Street Chelsea SW3, it also stated he was ARA which dates the picture between 1932 and 1939.
