John Bellany
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John Bellany (18 June 1942 – 28 August 2013) was a Scottish painter.


Early life

Bellany was born in
Port Seton Cockenzie and Port Seton ( sco, Cockennie ; gd, Cùil Choinnich, meaning "cove of Kenneth") is a unified town in East Lothian, Scotland. It is on the coast of the Firth of Forth, four miles east of Musselburgh. The burgh of Cockenzie was crea ...
. His father and grandfather were fishermen in Port Seton and
Eyemouth Eyemouth ( sco, Heymooth) is a small town and civil parish in Berwickshire, in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. It is east of the main north–south A1 road and north of Berwick-upon-Tweed. The town's name comes from its location at the ...
near Edinburgh. During the early 1960s, he studied at
Edinburgh College of Art Edinburgh College of Art (ECA) is one of eleven schools in the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Edinburgh. Tracing its history back to 1760, it provides higher education in art and design, architecture, histor ...
, here he met with other young Scottish artists to begin lifelong friendships and share ideals for a renaissance in Scottish arts. His contemporaries included Alan Bold and Alexander Moffat. Bellany and Moffat studied under
Robin Philipson Sir Robert (Robin) James Philipson Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour, RSW (17 December 1916 – 26 May 1992) was an English painter who was influential within the Scottish art scene for over three decades. Life Philipson wa ...
. Their initial interest was in impressionism but with their common Scottish background they looked toward
Alan Davie James Alan Davie (28 September 1920 – 5 April 2014) was a Scottish painter and musician. Biography Davie was born in Grangemouth, Scotland in 1920, the son of Elizabeth (née Turnbull) and James William Davie, an art teacher and painter who ...
as a connection to a greater but more accessible artistic world. After his studies at Edinburgh, Bellany achieved a major travelling scholarship and travelled around Europe discovering how the traditions of the great northern European masters could be connected to his own Scottish experience. After this he would marry Helen Percy and move to attend 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 o ...
in
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
. In 1967 he was invited to a trip to East Germany. In Dresden he viewed
Otto Dix Wilhelm Heinrich Otto Dix (; 2 December 1891 – 25 July 1969) was a German painter and printmaker, noted for his ruthless and harshly realistic depictions of German society during the Weimar Republic and the brutality of war. Along with George ...
's '' War Triptych''.


Career

In 1968 Bellany graduated and his diploma show was hailed as great success. Many of the paintings from this and the earlier periods are now in public institutions as well as various national galleries. After graduation, Bellany was offered a teaching position at the Edinburgh College of Art but he carried on as a working artist, taking teaching jobs at Brighton College of Art and then Winchester College of Art. He was elected to
The London Group The London Group is a society based in London, England, created to offer additional exhibiting opportunities to artists besides the Royal Academy of Arts. Formed in 1913, it is one of the oldest artist-led organisations in the world. It was for ...
in 1973. After he separated from his wife in 1974, his art appears to take on a darker tone. The symbolism increases and it seems as though each picture can have a whole narrative of symbols within it, increasingly the pictures become wilder, tending more to expressionism. He suffered a nervous breakdown and returned to Port Seton for recuperation. Between 1973 and 1978 Bellany had been head of faculty of painting at Croydon College of Art and had met Juliet Lister who he later married. He lectured at
Goldsmiths' College Goldsmiths, University of London, officially the Goldsmiths' College, is a constituent research university of the University of London in England. It was originally founded in 1891 as The Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by the Wor ...
from 1978 to 1984. In 1982 he was offered a show at the Rosa Esman Gallery in New York which presented his work to a greater audience, resulting in purchases to important private collections as well as to the
Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...
. One of the works exhibited was "Time and the Raven", a particularly strident work. The work's title was borrowed by his friend Sir
Peter Maxwell Davies Sir Peter Maxwell Davies (8 September 1934 – 14 March 2016) was an English composer and conductor, who in 2004 was made Master of the Queen's Music. As a student at both the University of Manchester and the Royal Manchester College of Musi ...
for his UN composition of the same name in 1995. In 1984, following an impromptu holiday in France with his first wife and family he was diagnosed with liver disease, a consequence of his alcoholism. He abstained for the rest of his life but the damage had been done. In 1985 his father died and his second wife Juliet committed suicide. A retrospective was arranged for the
National Gallery of Modern Art National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...
. The exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery included a portrait of the cricketer Ian Botham. This portrait attracted more publicity for Bellany than he had previously achieved. In 1986, he remarried his first wife Helen. The liver disease was becoming unmanageable. In 1988 Bellany was operated on for a then relatively new
liver transplant Liver transplantation or hepatic transplantation is the replacement of a diseased liver with the healthy liver from another person (allograft). Liver transplantation is a treatment option for end-stage liver disease and acute liver failure, al ...
procedure; this also inspired works. Carried out at
Addenbrooke's Hospital Addenbrooke's Hospital is an internationally renowned large teaching hospital and research centre in Cambridge, England, with strong affiliations to the University of Cambridge. Addenbrooke's Hospital is based on the Cambridge Biomedical Camp ...
in Cambridge by
Roy Calne Sir Roy Yorke Calne, FRCP, FRCS, FRS (born 30 December 1930) is a British surgeon and pioneer in organ transplantation. Career His most notable achievements are the world's first liver, heart, and lung transplant together with John Wallwor ...
, Bellany not only survived but started to paint within hours of the operation, first producing a portrait of the nurse caring for him, then going on to produce a set of pictures known as the Addenbrooke's series. Bellany received an Honorary Doctorate from Heriot-Watt University in 1998. In 2003
Damien Hirst Damien Steven Hirst (; né Brennan; born 7 June 1965) is an English artist, entrepreneur, and art collector. He is one of the Young British Artists (YBAs) who dominated the art scene in the UK during the 1990s. He is reportedly the United Kingd ...
came out as an admirer of Bellany and bought several of his works as well as praising him as one of the major painters of the twentieth century. In 2005 he suffered a heart attack. He died in 2013. In 2017,
Fortnum & Mason Fortnum & Mason (colloquially often shortened to just Fortnum's) is an upmarket department store in Piccadilly, London, with additional stores at The Royal Exchange, St Pancras railway station, Heathrow Airport in London and K11 Musea In Hong ...
in collaboration with art collector Frank Cohen presented an exhibition of work in partnership with The Bellany Estate. The show called Fortnum's X Frank 2017 saw 50 works by Bellany scattered through Fortnum & Mason's London store. Curated by Robert Upstone, former Director of The Fine Art Society and Head of Modern British Art at Tate, the exhibition featured paintings from all periods of Bellany's career, and was the largest exhibition of the artist's work since his death in 2013.


Legacy

Bellany's work is included in the
Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...
, New York, the
Metropolitan Museum The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
, New York, the Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, Connecticut and
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 ...
, London. Another place where his work is featured is the National Portrait galleries. Additionally some of his works are held in Scotland by the National Galleries of Scotland and also by
East Lothian Council East Lothian Council is one of the 32 local government councils in Scotland covering the East Lothian area. Since the last boundary changes in 2017, 22 councillors have been elected from 6 wards. History East Lothian District Council had been ...
reflecting his generosity to the local communities he lived in. He is buried on the south side of the main entrance path in Dean Cemetery on the west side of
Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...
. The
National Gallery of Scotland The Scottish National Gallery (formerly the National Gallery of Scotland) is the national art gallery of Scotland. It is located on The Mound in central Edinburgh, close to Princes Street. The building was designed in a neoclassical style by W ...
held a major exhibition of his work, "John Bellany: A Passion for Life", shortly after his death, November 2012 – January 2013.


Notable public works

seeArt UK
/ref> *Allegory,
National Gallery of Scotland The Scottish National Gallery (formerly the National Gallery of Scotland) is the national art gallery of Scotland. It is located on The Mound in central Edinburgh, close to Princes Street. The building was designed in a neoclassical style by W ...
(1964) *Bethel,
Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...
City art Gallery (1967) *Celtic Feast,
Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire a ...
Museums (1974) *
Billy Connolly Sir William Connolly (born 24 November 1942) is a Scottish actor, retired comedian, artist, writer, musician, and presenter. He is sometimes known, especially in his homeland, by the Scots nickname the Big Yin ("the Big One"). Known for his ...
,
National Gallery of Scotland The Scottish National Gallery (formerly the National Gallery of Scotland) is the national art gallery of Scotland. It is located on The Mound in central Edinburgh, close to Princes Street. The building was designed in a neoclassical style by W ...
* Ian Botham, cricketer, National Portrait Gallery, London (1985) *Chinatown, London Transport Museum (1987)


References


External links

*
Works in the National Galleries of ScotlandTate GalleryJohn Bellany CBE RA
*


Artist John Bellany dies aged 71
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bellany, John 1942 births 2013 deaths 20th-century Scottish painters Scottish male painters 21st-century Scottish painters 21st-century Scottish male artists Alumni of the Royal College of Art Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Royal Academicians People from Cockenzie and Port Seton Alumni of the Edinburgh College of Art Academics of Goldsmiths, University of London Liver transplant recipients Alumni of Preston Lodge High School 20th-century Scottish male artists