Kate Elizabeth Bunce - The Keepsake - Google Art Project

St Alban's - Bunce reredos - Andy Mabbett - 62

Kate Elizabeth Bunce (25 August 1856 – 24 December 1927) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

and

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

associated with the Arts and Crafts movement. The daughter of

John Thackray Bunce John Thackray Bunce (11 April 1828 – 28 June 1899) was a British journalist and author. He served as editor of ''Aris's Birmingham Gazette'' from 1860 to 1862, and of the ''Birmingham Post'' from 1862 to 1898. Early years Bunce was bor ...

– a patron of

Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery (BM&AG) is a museum and art gallery in Birmingham, England. It has a collection of international importance covering fine art, ceramics, metalwork, jewellery, natural history, archaeology, ethnography, local h ...

and editor of the ''

Birmingham Post The ''Birmingham Post'' is a weekly printed newspaper based in Birmingham, England, with a circulation of 2,545 and distribution throughout the West Midlands. First published under the name the ''Birmingham Daily Post'' in 1857, it has had a s ...

'' during its Liberal heyday – Bunce was born in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

and educated at home. She studied at the Birmingham School of Art in the 1880s, first exhibiting artworks with the

Royal Birmingham Society of Artists The Royal Birmingham Society of Artists or RBSA is an art society, based in the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham, England, where it owns and operates an art gallery, the RBSA Gallery, on Brook Street, just off St Paul's Square. It is both a ...

in 1874 and with the

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

from 1887. She was elected as an associate of the

in 1888 and many of her works were displayed in a number of Birmingham churches.

Career

Her earliest known work is ''The Sitting Room'' (1887), and in 1893 Bunce was one of the artists invited to contribute murals to hang in

Birmingham Town Hall Birmingham Town Hall is a concert hall and venue for popular assemblies opened in 1834 and situated in Victoria Square, Birmingham, England. It is a Grade I listed building. The hall underwent a major renovation between 2002 and 2007. It no ...

. Her initial style was that of the Birmingham School, where she was a prizewinning student during the 1880s. Her work became increasingly influenced by

Burne-Jones The Burne-Jones Baronetcy, of Rottingdean in the County of Sussex, and of The Grange in the Parish of Fulham in the County of London, was a title in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 4 May 1894 for the artist and designer E ...

Rossetti The House of Rossetti is an Italian noble, and Boyar Princely family appearing in the 14th-15th century, originating among the patrician families, during the Republic of Genoa, with branches of the family establishing themselves in the Kingdom o ...

, and the Pre-Raphaelites, and was characterised by strong figure drawing and a clear use of colour. Later in her life she painted a series of decorative pieces in churches, often alongside metalwork by her sister Myra Bunce. She exhibited her work across England between the years 1887 and 1912 in London, Manchester, Birmingham, and Liverpool. Her

reredos A reredos ( , , ) is a large altarpiece, a screen, or decoration placed behind the altar in a church. It often includes religious images. The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular architecture, for ex ...

in the church of St Alban's, Bordesley features many species of birds.

Personal life

Kate Bunce blue plauqe unveiling - 2015-09-10 - Andy Mabbett - 24

Bunce lived all of her life in

Edgbaston Edgbaston () is an affluent suburban area of central Birmingham, England, historically in Warwickshire, and curved around the southwest of the city centre. In the 19th century, the area was under the control of the Gough-Calthorpe family an ...

and died unmarried. A

Birmingham Civic Society Birmingham Civic Society is a voluntary body in Birmingham, England, and is registered with the Civic Trust. History The society was founded at an inaugural meeting on 10 June 1918 in the Birmingham Council House. The first president of the ...

blue plaque in her honour was unveiled at St Alban's church in September 2015, by the Lord Mayor of Birmingham.

Gallery

File:Kate Elizabeth Bunce - The Chance Meeting.jpg, ''The Chance Meeting'' File:Kate Bunce - 'Portrait of Mrs. Macneile Dixon' - 01.jpg, ''Portrait of Mrs. Macneile Dixon'' File:Bunce Melody.jpg, ''Melody (Musica)'', circa 1895 File:St Alban's - Bunce reredos - Andy Mabbett - 79.JPG,

Reredos A reredos ( , , ) is a large altarpiece, a screen, or decoration placed behind the altar in a church. It often includes religious images. The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular architecture, for ex ...

by Kate Bunce. Copperwork by her sister Myra. St Alban the Martyr, Birmingham, England. File:St Alban's - Bunce reredos - Andy Mabbett - 03.JPG, Reredos File:St Alban's - Bunce reredos - Andy Mabbett - 26.JPG, Reredos detail

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bunce, Kate 1856 births 1927 deaths Arts and Crafts movement artists Members and Associates of the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists Artists from Birmingham, West Midlands 19th-century English painters 20th-century English painters Alumni of the Birmingham School of Art Pre-Raphaelite painters Female Pre-Raphaelite painters