Ernest Greenwood (12 February 1913 – 17 May 2009) was an English artist, and president of the

Royal Watercolour Society The Royal Watercolour Society is a British institution of painters working in watercolours. The Society is a centre of excellence for water-based media on paper, which allows for a diverse and interesting range of approaches to the medium of wa ...

from 1976 to 1984. During this time, Greenwood is credited with having brought the society from the brink of closure back to a secure position in new premises in the

Bankside Gallery Bankside Gallery is a public art gallery in Bankside, London, England. Opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1980, Bankside is an educational charity, situated on the Thames Path just along from Tate Modern. The gallery is home to the Royal Watercolo ...

, London.

Early life

Greenwood was born in

Welling Welling is an area of South East London, England, in the London Borough of Bexley, west of Bexleyheath, southeast of Woolwich and of Charing Cross. Before the creation of Greater London in 1965, it was in the historical county of Kent. ...

, Kent, the sixth of seven children. His father, a shipping engineer, died when he was very young and the family lived in poverty thereafter. In 1927 Greenwood went to study at the Gravesend School of Art, winning a scholarship four years later to the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It offe ...

's painting school, where he studied under

Gilbert Spencer Gilbert Spencer (4 August 1892 – 14 January 1979) was a British painter of landscapes, portraits, figure compositions and mural decorations. He worked in oils and watercolour. He was the younger brother of the painter Stanley Spencer. ...

and

William Rothenstein Sir William Rothenstein (29 January 1872 – 14 February 1945) was an English painter, printmaker, draughtsman, lecturer, and writer on art. Emerging during the early 1890s, Rothenstein continued to make art right up until his death. Though he c ...

. He spent a year at the

British School in Rome The British School at Rome (BSR) is an interdisciplinary research centre supporting the arts, humanities and architecture. History The British School at Rome (BSR) was established in 1901 and granted a UK Royal Charter in 1912. Its mission is " ...

before returning to the Royal College in 1935, this time to study etching with Malcolm Osborne and Robert Austin. During this time Greenwood met his future wife, Eileen Messenger, with whom he staged joint exhibitions from her house in Redcliffe Road,

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

. The couple married in 1939.

World War II

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Greenwood was conscripted, first into the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

and then the

Army Educational Corps The Royal Army Educational Corps (RAEC) was a corps of the British Army tasked with educating and instructing personnel in a diverse range of skills. On 6 April 1992 it became the Educational and Training Services Branch (ETS) of the Adjutant Gene ...

. At the end of the war he was working in the Rehabilitation School in Berlin. Here he made several drawings of a young man playing a grand piano amid the ruins of the city, and a major work entitled ''Resurrection'', which is now exhibited in the

Ben Uri Gallery The Ben Uri Gallery & Museum is a registered museum and charity based at 108a Boundary Road, off Abbey Road in St John's Wood, London, England. It features the work and lives of émigré artists in London, and describes itself as "The Art Museum ...

in London along with two other of Greenwood's works.

Later career

After the war, Greenwood began working as an art teacher at Chislehurst Technical High School for Girls, where he was commissioned to paint 15 murals on wooden panels, on the theme of Christmas and Easter. He went on to become an inspector of art education in schools, first for

London County Council London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kno ...

(from 1953 to 1966) then Kent

LEA Lea or LEA may refer to: Places Australia * Lea River, Tasmania, Australia * Lake Lea, Tasmania, from which the Lea River flows * RAAF Base Learmonth, IATA airport code "LEA" England * Lea, Cheshire, a civil parish * Lea, Derbyshire, a set ...

, until his retirement in 1973. After his retirement Greenwood expressed regret at having devoted so much time to education administration rather than art, and became a lecturer on Swan Hellenic cruises. From 1960, Greenwood lived and worked in a listed 16th-century hall house in the hamlet of Broad Street outside

Hollingbourne Hollingbourne is a village and civil parish in the borough of Maidstone in Kent, England. The parish is located on the southward slope of the North Downs to the east of the county town, Maidstone. The parish population is around 900 and has th ...

in Kent. Towards the end of his life, Greenwood moved with his wife into sheltered accommodation in

Hothfield Hothfield is a village and civil parish in the Ashford Borough of Kent, England and is 3 miles north-west of Ashford on the A20. It is completely split in two by Hothfield Common. Geography In the north west is Hothfield Common, 58 hectares (1 ...

, further toward the Kent coast.

Art career

Societies

Throughout his working life, Greenwood continued to paint. His style of painting was greatly influenced by

Samuel Palmer Samuel Palmer Hon.RE (Hon. Fellow of the Society of Painter-Etchers) (27 January 180524 May 1881) was a British landscape painter, etcher and printmaker. He was also a prolific writer. Palmer was a key figure in Romanticism in Britain and p ...

, and primarily focused on rural landscapes, either from Kent or inspired by his travels in Continental Europe. Greenwood became involved in a number of artistic societies, serving as President of the Hesketh Hubbard Art Society (1960–65), Guild of Kent Artists (1966), and most prominently the

(RWS) (1976–84). By the time Greenwood took over as President of the RWS, its premises in Conduit Street, Central London, were in a state of disrepair and it was in an unhealthy financial situation. With the help of the architect Sir Gerald Glover, Greenwood secured a space for the Society in the newly-developed

on the

South Bank The South Bank is an entertainment and commercial district in central London, next to the River Thames opposite the City of Westminster. It forms a narrow strip of riverside land within the London Borough of Lambeth (where it adjoins Alber ...

of the Thames, as

Southwark Council Southwark London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Southwark in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in the United Kingdom capital of London. History There have previously been a number ...

looked favourably upon the inclusion of a Royal Society in the project. The new centre was opened by

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

in 1980, and would later be joined by the neighbouring

Tate Modern Tate Modern is an art gallery located in London. It houses the United Kingdom's national collection of international modern and contemporary art, and forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. It is ...

Exhibitions

Greenwood's work was exhibited in

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

in 1970, in a joint show with

Hugh Casson Sir Hugh Maxwell Casson (23 May 1910 – 15 August 1999) was a British architect. He was also active as an interior designer, as an artist, and as a writer and broadcaster on twentieth-century design. He was the director of architecture for t ...

, and in

Tenterden Tenterden is a town in the borough of Ashford in Kent, England. It stands on the edge of the remnant forest the Weald, overlooking the valley of the River Rother. It was a member of the Cinque Ports Confederation. Its riverside today is not ...

in 1989 with John Stanton Ward and

Ken Howard Kenneth Joseph Howard Jr. (March 28, 1944 – March 23, 2016) was an American actor. He was known for his roles as Thomas Jefferson in ''1776'' and as basketball coach and former Chicago Bulls player Ken Reeves in the television show '' The Whit ...

. He held retrospectives at the New Metropole,

Folkestone Folkestone ( ) is a port town on the English Channel, in Kent, south-east England. The town lies on the southern edge of the North Downs at a valley between two cliffs. It was an important harbour and shipping port for most of the 19th and 20t ...

in 1972 (where he first met Gerald Glover), and Maidstone County Hall Gallery in 1997. Friends of Greenwood also arranged for his work to be exhibited in

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

. In 1994 he was invited to contribute decorations to the Judges' Chambers at Canterbury Crown Court.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Greenwood, Ernest 1913 births 2009 deaths Alumni of the Royal College of Art British Army personnel of World War II English watercolourists People from Bexley Royal Artillery soldiers Royal Army Educational Corps soldiers People from Hollingbourne People from Hothfield