Robert Polhill Bevan (5 August 1865 – 8 July 1925) was a British painter,

draughtsman A draughtsman (British spelling) or draftsman (American spelling) may refer to: * An architectural drafter, who produced architectural drawings until the late 20th century * An artist who produces drawings that rival or surpass their other types ...

and

lithographer Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German a ...

. He was a founding member of the

Camden Town Group The Camden Town Group was a group of English Post-Impressionist artists founded in 1911 and active until 1913. They gathered frequently at the studio of painter Walter Sickert in the Camden Town area of London. History In 1908, critic Frank R ...

, the London Group, and the

Cumberland Market Group The Cumberland Market Group was a short-lived artistic grouping in early twentieth century London. The group met in the studio of Robert Bevan in Cumberland Market, the old hay and straw market off Albany Street, and held one exhibition. Histo ...

Early life

He was born in Brunswick Square,

Hove Hove is a seaside resort and one of the two main parts of the city of Brighton and Hove, along with Brighton in East Sussex, England. Originally a "small but ancient fishing village" surrounded by open farmland, it grew rapidly in the 19th cen ...

, near

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

, the fourth of six children of Richard Alexander Bevan (1834–1918), a banker, and Laura Maria Polhill. The Bevans had been a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

family with long associations with

Barclays Bank Barclays () is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services. Barclays traces ...

. They were descended from

Silvanus Bevan Silvanus Bevan FRS (1691–8 June 1765) was an apothecary, who founded the London firm of Allen & Hanburys. Biography Early life Silvanus Bevan was born in 1691 in Swansea, into a prosperous Welsh Quaker family. His father, who died in 1725, ...

the Plough Court apothecary and

Robert Barclay Robert Barclay (23 December 16483 October 1690) was a Scottish Quaker, one of the most eminent writers belonging to the Religious Society of Friends and a member of the Clan Barclay. He was a son of Col. David Barclay, Laird of Urie, and his ...

the Quaker Apologist. The family, who could trace direct descent from Iestyn ap Gwrgant, had left Wales in the 17th century and settled in London. His first teacher of drawing was Arthur Ernest Pearce, who later became head designer to Royal Doulton potteries. In 1888 he studied art under Fred Brown at the Westminster School of Art before moving to the

Académie Julian The Académie Julian () was a private art school for painting and sculpture founded in Paris, France, in 1867 by French painter and teacher Rodolphe Julian (1839–1907) that was active from 1868 through 1968. It remained famous for the number a ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. Amongst his fellow students were

Paul Sérusier Paul Sérusier (9 November 1864 – 7 October 1927) was a French painter who was a pioneer of abstract art and an inspiration for the avant-garde Nabis movement, Synthetism and Cloisonnism. Education Sérusier was born in Paris. He studied a ...

Pierre Bonnard Pierre Bonnard (; 3 October 186723 January 1947) was a French painter, illustrator and printmaker, known especially for the stylized decorative qualities of his paintings and his bold use of color. A founding member of the Post-Impressionist ...

, Édouard Vuillard and Maurice Denis. Bevan made his first visit to

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...

with a fellow student Eric Forbes-Robertson in 1890 and stayed at the Villa Julia, in Pont-Aven. He made a second visit in the autumn of the following year before travelling to Morocco by way of

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

to study Velasquez and Goya at first hand. He appears to have done more fox-hunting in

Tangier Tangier ( ; ; ar, طنجة, Ṭanja) is a city in northwestern Morocco. It is on the Moroccan coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar, where the Mediterranean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel. The town is the cap ...

than drawing in the company of the artists Joseph Crawhall and

George Denholm Armour George Denholm Armour (1864–1949) was a British painter and illustrator.Horace Laffaye, ''Polo in Britain: A History'', Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., 2012, pp. 145-146 During his career he made hundreds of illustratio ...

and was Master of the

Tangier Hunt Tangier ( ; ; ar, طنجة, Ṭanja) is a city in northwestern Morocco. It is on the Moroccan coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar, where the Mediterranean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel. The town is the capit ...

in his second season. Breton-Churchyard

Bevan returned to Brittany in 1893. There is no evidence that he had ever met

Van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2,100 artworks, inclu ...

but it is obvious in the swirling trees and landscape of his Breton drawings that he knew his work. It is known that he was friendly with

Paul Gauguin Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (, ; ; 7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903) was a French Post-Impressionist artist. Unappreciated until after his death, Gauguin is now recognized for his experimental use of colour and Synthetist style that were distinct fr ...

, who gave him several prints. Bevan also received encouragement from Renoir, particularly in his drawing of horses. Although not evident in the few paintings that survive from this period it is in his drawings, early prints, and two surviving wax panels that the obvious influence of Pont-Aven synthetism can be seen. On his return to England in 1894 Bevan went to live on Exmoor where he was able to combine painting with hunting.

Married life

In the summer of 1897 Bevan met the Polish painter

Stanisława de Karłowska Stanisława de Karłowska (8 May 1876 – 9 December 1952) was a Polish-born artist who was a was a founder member of the The London Group, London Group. Her work combined a modernist style with elements of Polish folk art. Life and work Stanis� ...

at the wedding of Polish art student Janina Flamm with Eric Forbes-Robertson in Jersey. At the end of the year Bevan and de Karłowska married in Warsaw. Her father had extensive land in central

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

and for the remainder of their married life they would make long summer visits there. In 1900 the Bevans settled in London at 14 Adamson Road, Swiss Cottage. Their first child, Edith Halina (Mrs Charles Baty), had been born in December 1898 and their second, Robert Alexander, in March 1901. The summers of 1901, 1903 and 1904 were spent in Poland and it was here that some of his most colourful work was produced. The influence of Gauguin was a key role in Bevan's development, helping him to discover the pure colour which led him to a premature

Fauvism Fauvism /ˈfoʊvɪzm̩/ is the style of ''les Fauves'' (French language, French for "the wild beasts"), a group of early 20th-century modern artists whose works emphasized painterly qualities and strong colour over the Representation (arts), repr ...

in 1904. His ''Courtyard'' of that year has been described as "one of the first exercises in the expressive use of pure colour in this century". Bevan's early experiments in colour can also be seen in his ''The Mill Pool'' which recalls the ''Talisman'' picture that Sérusier painted to Gauguin's instructions and was described as being "quite different in colour and really rather superior". However his first one-man exhibition in 1905, which contained probably the most radical paintings by a British artist at that time, was not a commercial success and was hardly noticed by the critics.Oxford Dictionary of National Biography "Robert Polhill Bevan" "Bevan evidently lost confidence in the direction it pointed and never again produced so outstanding a painting of this type. Sir

Philip Hendy Sir Philip Anstiss Hendy (27 September 1900 – 6 September 1980) was a British art curator who worked both in Britain and overseas, notably the United States. In 1923, he began his career in art administration as an Assistant Keeper and lectu ...

, in his preface to the 1961 Bevan retrospective exhibition at

Colnaghi's Colnaghi is an art dealership in St James's, central London, England, which is the oldest art museum, commercial art gallery in the world, having been established in 1760. Foundation The business that became the Colnaghi gallery was establis ...

, commented that Bevan was perhaps the first Englishman to use pure colour in the 20th Century. He was certainly far in advance of his Camden Town colleagues in this respect." Bevan's second exhibition, in 1908, of largely Sussex scenes included the first of his paintings in the

divisionist Divisionism, also called chromoluminarism, was the characteristic style in Neo-Impressionist painting defined by the separation of colors into individual dots or patches which interacted optically..Homer, William I. ''Seurat and the Science of ...

pointillist Pointillism (, ) is a technique of painting in which small, distinct dots of color are applied in patterns to form an image. Georges Seurat and Paul Signac developed the technique in 1886, branching from Impressionism. The term "Pointillism" wa ...

style of which the best examples are ''Ploughing on the Downs'' ( Aberdeen Art Gallery) and ''The Turn-Rice Plough'' ( Yale Center for British Art). In the same year Bevan submitted five works to the first

Allied Artists' Association The Allied Artists Association (AAA) was an art exhibiting society based in London in the early 20th century. History The Allied Artists Association was founded by Frank Rutter, art critic of ''The Sunday Times'' newspaper, in 1908. Its purpos ...

in London's Albert Hall—a non-juried, subscription show founded by Frank Rutter to promote progressive artists and based on the French

Salon des Indépendants Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon (P ...

."Allied Artists' Association (A.A.A.)", Grove Art Online, retrieved fro
Oxford Art Online
(subscription site), 8 August 2008.Sickert, Richard Walter; Robins, Anna Gruetzner. ''Walter Sickert: The Complete Writings on Art'', p. xxxi, Oxford University Press, 2003. , . Retrieved fro
Google Books
( Wassily Kandinsky showed in England for the first time at the second exhibition in 1909.)Glew, Adrian
"Every work of art is the child of its time"
, ''

Tate Etc. ''Tate Etc.'' is an arts magazine produced within Britain's Tate organisation of arts and museums. It has the largest circulation of any art magazine in the world. The magazine was edited by Simon Grant from its launch in 2004 until the Autumn 202 ...

'', issue 7, Summer 2006. Retrieved 8 August 2008. Having worked largely in isolation since returning from Pont-Aven, Bevan's paintings were noticed by

Harold Gilman Harold John Wilde Gilman (11 February 187612 February 1919) was a British painter of interiors, portraits and landscapes, and a founder-member of the Camden Town Group. Early life and studies Harold John Wilde Gilman was the second son and ...

and

Spencer Gore Spencer may refer to: People *Spencer (surname) **Spencer family, British aristocratic family **List of people with surname Spencer *Spencer (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) Places Australia *Spencer, New So ...

and he was invited to join Walter Sickert's

Fitzroy Street Group The Fitzroy Street Group was an organisation created to promote and support artists. It was established in 1907 by Walter Sickert and merged in 1913 with the Camden Town Group to form the London Group. Overview In 1907 Walter Sickert formed the F ...

. It was Sickert who encouraged him to "paint what really interests you and look around and see the beauty of everyday things". Thus began a series of paintings recording the decline of the horse cab trade, for example ''The Cab Horse'' (

Tate Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...

gallery).

Camden Town Group

In May 1911 the decision was made to form a new exhibiting society from the ranks of Fitzroy Street and so the

was founded. The end of that year saw Bevan moving away from the portrayal of the cab yards to the London horse sales at Tattersalls, Aldridges, the Barbican, and Wards (see ''Horse Sale at the Barbican'',

Tate Gallery Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...

and ''Under the Hammer'',

Walker Art Gallery The Walker Art Gallery is an art gallery in Liverpool, which houses one of the largest art collections in England outside London. It is part of the National Museums Liverpool group. History of the Gallery The Walker Art Gallery's collection ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

). The Camden Town Group was short-lived. After three financially unsuccessful exhibitions Arthur Clifton, who ran the Carfax Gallery, declined to hold any more. However he still continued to back individual members and Bevan had his third one-man show there in 1913. Bevan-Cabyard

In 1913, ''The Cabyard, Night'', the only painting by Bevan acquired for a public collection during his lifetime, was bought by the Contemporary Art Society on Frank Rutter's recommendation that they should obtain it for the nation before a more discerning collector bought it. William Marchant, of the Goupil Gallery, offered his larger premises on condition that the Group was expanded and that it changed its name. This resulted in the formation of the London Group in the autumn of 1913.

was elected president,

J.B. Manson James Bolivar Manson (26 June 1879 in London – 3 July 1945 in London)

secretary and Bevan treasurer. From April 1914 until September 1915 Bevan rented a studio in

Cumberland Market Cumberland Market was a London market between Regent's Park and Euston railway station. It was built in the early 19th century and was London's hay and straw market for a hundred years until the late 1920s. An arm of the Regent's Canal was bui ...

, London's hay and straw market in

Camden Town Camden Town (), often shortened to Camden, is a district of northwest London, England, north of Charing Cross. Historically in Middlesex, it is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Camden, and identified in the London Plan as o ...

. It was here that the

consisting of Bevan, Gilman,

Charles Ginner Charles Isaac Ginner (4 March 1878 – 6 January 1952) was a British painter of landscape and urban subjects. Born in the south of France at Cannes, of British parents, in 1910 he settled in London, where he was an associate of Spencer Gore a ...

and John Nash held Saturday afternoon 'at homes'. The four exhibited at the Goupil Gallery in May 1915 and were later joined by

Edward McKnight Kauffer Edward McKnight Kauffer (14 December 1890 – 22 October 1954) was an American artist and graphic designer who lived for much of his life in the United Kingdom. He worked mainly in poster art, but was also active as a painter, book illustrator a ...

and

C.R.W. Nevinson Christopher Richard Wynne Nevinson (13 August 1889 – 7 October 1946) was an English figure and landscape painter, etcher and lithographer, who was one of the most famous war artists of World War I. He is often referred to by his initial ...

Last years

Bevan spent most of his summers painting. Until the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

this was usually at family homes in Poland or

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

. However, at about this time, he was first invited down to the

Blackdown Hills The Blackdown Hills are a range of hills along the Somerset-Devon border in south-western England, which were designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) in 1991. The plateau is dominated by hard chert bands of Upper Greensand wit ...

on the

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

border as a guest of landowner and amateur artist Harold Harrison. Until the end of his life Bevan continued to paint in the Bolham valley and nearby Luppitt his angular style sitting well with the strong patterning of the landscape. His London street scenes, which were largely in the area of St John's Wood and Belsize Park, were generally more favourably reviewed than his landscapes. After a break of nearly twenty years Bevan returned to

lithography Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German a ...

. Whilst his earlier prints recall landscapes by

the later works are more in the nature of tone translations of oil paintings. "In either instance they are technically superb and notable additions to English lithography of the period." In 1922 he was elected to the New English Art Club. Bevan died on 8 July 1925, following an operation for stomach cancer.

Legacy

Despite memorial shows in 1926 and an Arts Council exhibition in 1956, his unique contribution to British art was not widely recognized until 1965, the centenary of his birth. In that year the artist's son published his memoir and organised a series of exhibitions. Bevan's modesty and reticence and his "almost complete inability to put himself forward" ensured that most of his works were unsold and a considerable number were left to his wife on his death. Stanislawa Bevan left her estate equally between her son R.A. Bevan and daughter Mrs Charles Baty. In 1961 they presented the

Ashmolean Museum The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology () on Beaumont Street, Oxford, England, is Britain's first public museum. Its first building was erected in 1678–1683 to house the cabinet of curiosities that Elias Ashmole gave to the University of ...

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

with The Bevan Gift in honour of their parents' work. As well as a number of paintings, drawings and lithographs this included the 27 surviving Bevan sketchbooks. Further works were added subsequently. He was one of nine out of the 17-strong Camden Town Group to be shown in a major retrospective of the group at

Tate Britain Tate Britain, known from 1897 to 1932 as the National Gallery of British Art and from 1932 to 2000 as the Tate Gallery, is an art museum on Millbank in the City of Westminster in London, England. It is part of the Tate network of galleries in ...

in London in 2008.Lambirth, Andrew
"Velvet Revolutionaries"
''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British magazine on politics, culture, and current affairs. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving weekly magazine in the world. It is owned by Frederick Barclay, who also owns ''The ...

'', 5 March 2008. Retrieved 15 September 2008. Works by Bevan can be found in many public collections in the United Kingdom. He is also represented in public collections in Australia; France; New Zealand; South Africa and the USA. Robert Bevan was the great grandfather of the historian of architectural paint and colour,

Patrick Baty Patrick Baty FRSA (born 1956) is a British historian of architectural paint and colour, who works as a consultant in the decoration of historic buildings. Early years He was educated at St Benedict's School, in London, and after a short period a ...

Works on show

An exhibition entitled ''A Countryman in Town: Robert Bevan and the Cumberland Market Group'' was held at the Southampton City Art Gallery from 26 September – 14 December 2008 and it moved to

Abbot Hall Art Gallery Abbot Hall Art Gallery is a museum and gallery in Kendal, England. Abbot Hall was built in 1759 by Colonel George Wilson, the second son of Daniel Wilson of Dallam Tower, a large house and country estate nearby. It was built on the site of the o ...

from 13 January – 21 March 2009. More works were seen in an exhibition held at Gainsborough's House,

Sudbury Sudbury may refer to: Places Australia * Sudbury Reef, Queensland Canada * Greater Sudbury, Ontario (official name; the city continues to be known simply as Sudbury for most purposes) ** Sudbury (electoral district), one of the city's federal e ...

, in Suffolk from 4 October to 13 December 2008. The show was entitled ''From Sickert to Gertler: Modern British Art from Boxted House''.

Gallery

Image:Huntsman & Hounds.jpg, ''Huntsman & Hounds'', 1898 Image:The Meet.jpg, ''The Meet'', 1898 File:Huntsman_and_hounds.jpg, ''Found'', 1898 Image:The Artist's Wife.jpg, ''The Artist's Wife'', 1898 Image:Bevan-Culme.jpg, ''Evening in the Culme Valley'', 1912 Image:Bevan-Two-Bridges.jpg, ''Two Bridges'', c. 1912 Image:Bevan-Weigh-House.jpg, ''The Weigh House, Cumberland Market'', c. 1914 Image:Bevan-Self-1914.jpg, ''Self Portrait'', c. 1914 Image:The Feathered Hat.jpg, ''The Feathered Hat'', 1915 Image:Bevan-Belsize-Park.jpg, ''A Street Scene in Belsize Park'', 1917 Image:The Artist's Son.jpg, ''The Artist's Son'', c. 1918 Image:A-Devon-Cottage.jpg, ''A Devon Cottage'', c. 1920 Image:Mount Stephen.jpg, ''Mount Stephen'', 1924

Notes and references

Bibliography

* Robert Bevan, ''Robert Bevan: A Memoir by his Son''. London, Studio Vista. 1965. * Graham Dry, ''Catalogue Raisonné of the Prints of Robert Bevan''. London, Maltzahn Gallery. 1968. * Audrey Nona Gamble, ''A History of the Bevan Family''. London, Headley Brothers. 1923. * Nicola Moorby, 'Robert Bevan 1865–1925', artist biography, February 2003, in Helena Bonett, Ysanne Holt, Jennifer Mundy (eds.), ''The Camden Town Group in Context'', Tate, May 2012, http://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/camden-town-group/robert-bevan-r1105351 * Frances Stenlake, ''Robert Bevan from Gauguin to Camden Town''. London, Unicorn Press. 2008. * Robert Upstone, ''Modern Painters: The Camden Town Group'' xhibition catalogue, Tate Britain, London 2008. . * J. Wood Palmer, 'A Time to Remember', in ''The London Magazine''; Vol 1 No 12. March 1962. * John Yeates, ''NW1. The Camden Town Artists. A social history''. Somerset, Heale Gallery. 2007.

External links

*
Biography at the Tate Gallery

Bridgeman Art Library

Cuckfield Museum

Facebook page

Selected works

* ''Self Portrait'' (1913–14

* ''Ploughing in Brittany'' (1893–94

* ''Breton Women outside Church'' (ca.1894

* ''The Well at Mydlow, Poland'' (190

* ''A Sale at Tattersall's'' (1911

* ''Horse Sale at the Barbican'' (1912

* ''Maples at Cuckfield'' (1914

* ''Queen's Road, St John's Wood'' (1918

* ''Showing at Tattersall's'' (ca.1919

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bevan, Robert 1865 births 1925 deaths 20th-century British painters Académie Julian alumni Alumni of the Westminster School of Art 19th-century British painters 20th-century British printmakers English male painters Modern painters English printmakers People from Hove Pont-Aven painters English people of Welsh descent

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...