Paul Bird (13 February 1923 – 5 May 1993) was an English artist and teacher who had a long and varied career.

Biography

Bird was born in London and studied at the Bath School of Art under

Clifford Ellis Clifford Wilson Ellis (1907–1985) was a British printmaker, painter, designer and art teacher. Ellis is notable both for the work he did for the Recording Britain project during the Second World War and for his role in the development of art t ...

. In Bath, Bird met the elderly

Walter Sickert Walter Richard Sickert (31 May 1860 – 22 January 1942) was a German-born British painter and printmaker who was a member of the Camden Town Group of Post-Impressionist artists in early 20th-century London. He was an important influence on d ...

who became a major influence on him. During World War Two, Bird served in the Royal Navy and was deployed to the Far East and India. While on active service, Bird continued to paint and submitted a number of works to the

War Artists' Advisory Committee The War Artists Advisory Committee (WAAC), was a British government agency established within the Ministry of Information at the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 and headed by Sir Kenneth Clark. Its aim was to compile a comprehensive artist ...

, WAAC. WAAC eventually purchased a small number of these pictures and they are now held in the

Imperial War Museum Imperial War Museums (IWM) is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, the museum was intended to record the civil and military ...

and the British Government Art Collection. After the war, Bird studied at the

Institute of Education IOE, UCL's Faculty of Education and Society (IOE) is the education school of University College London (UCL). It specialises in postgraduate study and research in the field of education and is one of UCL's 11 constituent faculties. Prior to m ...

in London, where his lecturers included

Nikolaus Pevsner Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (1 ...

, before returning to

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

to teach art at the Bath Art Secondary School. In the early 1950s, Bird taught for a time as Head of Painting at the Bretton Hall Training College. In 1953 he joined the

Community of the Resurrection The Community of the Resurrection (CR) is an Anglican religious community for men in England. It is based in Mirfield, West Yorkshire, and has 13 members as of February 2021. The community reflects Anglicanism in its broad nature and is strong ...

Mirfield Mirfield () is a town and civil parish in Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is on the A644 road between Brighouse and Dewsbury. At the 2011 census it had a population of 19,563. Mirfield f ...

in Yorkshire. Bird lived as a lay member of the Anglo-Catholic community there for eight years. When he left Mirfield, Bird joined the teaching staff at 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 ...

under

Robin Darwin Sir Robert Vere "Robin" Darwin KCB CBE RA RSA PRWA NEAC (7 May 1910 – 30 January 1974) was a British artist and Rector of the Royal College of Art. He was the son of the golf writer Bernard Darwin and his wife the engraver Elinor Monsell ...

. There he taught drawing in the Film and Television School on a part-time basis before taking a full-time role as the vice-principal of the

Central School of Art and Design The Central School of Art and Design was a public school of fine and applied arts in London, England. It offered foundation and degree level courses. It was established in 1896 by the London County Council as the Central School of Arts and Cr ...

. Bird worked at the Central from 1961 until 1983. From 1983 until the last year of his life, Bird presented an influential series of summer school lectures on ''The Art of Seeing''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bird, Paul 1923 births 1993 deaths 20th-century English male artists 20th-century English painters Academics of the Central School of Art and Design Academics of the Royal College of Art Alumni of Bath School of Art and Design Artists from London British male painters British war artists Royal Navy personnel of World War II World War II artists