Rodney Joseph Burn (11 July 1899 – 11 August 1984) was a British artist who painted landscapes, portraits and figures and seascapes. During his long career he also worked in America and painted in the Channel Islands and Venice and was elected a member of the

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

in 1962.

Life and work

Burn was born in

Palmers Green Palmers Green is a suburban area and electoral ward in north London, England, within the London Borough of Enfield. It is located within the N13 postcode district, around north of Charing Cross. It is home to the largest population of Greek Cy ...

in London and attended

Harrow School Harrow School () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English boarding school for boys) in Harrow on the Hill, Greater London, England. The school was founded in 1572 by John Lyon (school founder), John Lyon, a local landowner an ...

. His father was Sir

Joseph Burn Sir Joseph Burn KBE, FRICS (1871–1950) was chairman of the Prudential Insurance company. He was a fellow of the Institute of Actuaries and served as the organization's president from 1926–1928. The "Sir Joseph Burn Prize" is awarded by the Ins ...

, who was the chairman of the

Prudential Insurance Prudential Financial, Inc. is an American financial services company whose subsidiaries provide insurance, retirement planning, investment management, and other products and services to both retail and institutional customers throughout the Uni ...

company. After military service in the British army in World War One, Burn entered the

Slade School of Art The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...

where he studied between 1918 and 1922. At the Slade Burn won six major prizes, featured in an article in ''

The Burlington Magazine ''The Burlington Magazine'' is a monthly publication that covers the fine and decorative arts of all periods. Established in 1903, it is the longest running art journal in the English language. It has been published by a charitable organisation s ...

'' and met his future wife, the sculptor Dorothy Sharwood Smith. Burn was among a number of London artschool graduates selected by the

London County Council The 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 ...

to produce a large work for a series showing scenes from London parks, that was intended for the newly built County Hall. Burn exhibited with the

New English Art Club The New English Art Club (NEAC) is a society for contemporary artists that was founded in London, England, in 1886 as an alternative venue to the Royal Academy. The NEAC holds an annual exhibition of paintings and drawings at the Mall Galleries ...

from 1923 and held a joint exhibition, with

Stephen Bone Stephen Bone (13 November 1904 – 15 September 1958) was an English painter, writer, broadcaster and noted war artist. Bone achieved early success in book illustration using woodcuts before he turned to painting and art criticism. Early life ...

and

Robin Guthrie Robin Andrew Guthrie (born 4 January 1962) is a Scottish musician, songwriter, composer, record producer and audio engineer, best known as the co-founder of the post punk alternative rock band Cocteau Twins. During his career Guthrie has ...

, at the Goupil Gallery in 1926. From 1929 to 1931 he taught as a tutor at the

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

. From 1931 to 1934 he was, with Robin Guthrie, the joint director of painting and drawing at the

School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston The School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University (Museum School, SMFA at Tufts, or SMFA; formerly the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston) is a dedicated art school within Tufts University, a private research university in Mass ...

. During the Second World War, Burn was among the artists who worked at the Civil Defence Camouflage Establishment based in Leamington Spa. Later during the war he completed a number of short commissions for 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 artis ...

, including a portrait of Dr Stradling, a Director of the Camouflage Establishment. After the war Burn returned to the Royal College of Art and taught there as a Senior Tutor until his retirement in 1965. During his career he also taught at both the

Camberwell School of Art Camberwell College of Arts is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London, a public art and design university in London, England. The college offers further and higher education programmes, including postgraduate and PhD awards. ...

and at the

City and Guilds of London Art School Founded in 1854 as the Lambeth School of Art, the City and Guilds of London Art School is a small specialist art college located in central London, England. Originally founded as a government art school, it is now an independent, not-for-profit ...

. Dorothy Sharwood Smith also taught at Camberwell for several years. Burn spent his later years teaching in Europe and sailing. For a time he lived on the south coast of England near

Chichester Chichester ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in the Chichester District, Chichester district of West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher ...

and his last studio was on the bank of the Thames at

Chiswick Chiswick ( ) is a district in West London, split between the London Borough of Hounslow, London Boroughs of Hounslow and London Borough of Ealing, Ealing. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist Wi ...

Memberships

Burn was a member of or affiliated with the following organisations: * 1924: Member, later Honorary Secretary, of the

, * 1954: Elected associate of the

, * 1962: Elected full member of the Royal Academy. Burn was also a member of the

Royal West of England Academy The Royal West of England Academy (RWA) is Bristol's oldest art gallery, located in Clifton, Bristol, near the junction of Queens Road and Whiteladies Road. Situated in a Grade II* listed building, it hosts five galleries and an exhibition prog ...

and President of the St. Ives Society of Artists

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Burn, Rodney Joseph 1899 births 1984 deaths 20th-century English male artists 20th-century English painters Academics of the Royal College of Art Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art British Army personnel of World War I Camoufleurs English male painters Painters from London People educated at Harrow School People from Palmers Green Royal Academicians World War II artists 20th-century British war artists