John Copnall
Encyclopedia
John Bainbridge Copnall (1928–2007) was an English artist best known for his abstract expressionist
painting of richly coloured stylised realism, often on a grand scale. He was also a teacher of painting for twenty years at the Central School of Art and Design in London
.
(1903–1970) whilst his mother Muriel, his uncle and aunt Frank and Theresa Copnall were both enthusiastic amateur artists. Another uncle, Hubert Copnall (1918–1997), was also an artist and sculptor, although he spent over thirty years farming, having been initially so required as a World War II
conscientious objector
. His paternal grandfather EW Copnall was a early photographer and artist.
Copnall showed early promise in drawing and his strong draughtsman skills would be at the heart of his work throughout his painting life. At the age of eighteen he began studies at the Architectural Association in London. This proved a poor choice of a career as Copnall lacked the required mathematical ability and used the excuse of his National Service to leave the profession permanently in order to become a professional artist
at the Royal academy Schools. His talent was obvious and he won the prestigious Turner Gold Medal for Landscape Painting in his final year in 1954.
In 1954 he visited Spain for what was intended to be a short visit. The effect was almost instant and he fell in love with the Iberian landscape staying for fourteen years. Whilst on Ibiza he married his first wife Madeleine Chardon with whom he had a daughter and when the marriage ended he moved to the mainland to live in a hacienda in the mountains above Malaga where he earned a living as a painter sometimes using the name of Juan de Retamá. The intense light of Spain and the visceral nature of its people changed his art fundamentally as he experimented with intense earthy colours whilst increasingly moving towards abstraction. Throughout his career Copnall was interested in using intense colour and the Spanish light undoubtedly enhanced his artistic senses.
As the 60’s progressed Copnall became fashionable and he began to sell his paintings to private collectors that included Melvyn Douglas
. He had several solo exhibitions in Spain and Catalonia as well as shows in Germany where he was also popular and a lesser one in England in Newcastle. He said of his life in the 1960s: "No Beatles, but plenty of bullfighting, flamenco and Rioja!"
, Morris Louis and Mark Rothko
with Copnall using acrylic paint on cotton duck on increasingly larger canvasses. His use of colour was exuberant. 'Painting is colour and colour is painting." said Copnall. In 1970 he won the E A Abbey Scholarship and further recognition followed with Art Council awards in 1973 and a British Council Award in 1979. As the 60s progressed abstract art began to lose influence as new ‘pop’ style were in vogue and to some extent Copnall found himself less fashionable during the late 70s and 80s.
A series of solo exhibitions were held throughout the 1970s but Copnall was becoming a peripheral figure in the context of mainstream English art. Nevertheless his influence on the next generation of British artists is evident following a twenty year period from 1973 to 1993 when Copnall worked as a teacher at the Central School of Art and Design. He had married for the second time in 1976 to Caroline Brown with whom he had a son and a daughter and he required the financial stability that teaching provided.The marriage was dissolved in 1997.
In 1996 his solo show "Reflections, Orbits and Radiances" in the sympathetic surroundings of the De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill-on-Sea, Sussex drew mainly on work done in the period 1992-96. In the catalogue, Christopher Lloyd, Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures, considered that it was "difficult to think of a more appropriate setting for John Copnall's paintings" than this light-filled example of pioneering mid-1930s architecture.
In 1988 John Copnall was elected to the important London Group
, an artists' exhibiting society based in London dating from 1913 and founded to help independent minded artists challenge the pre eminence of the Royal Society by promoting radical thought in English art. It was a natural place for the independent minded Copnall.
During the final years of his life Copnall painted infrequently and ceased all together following a stroke. He died on June 9, 2007 following a short illness.
A memorial exhibition was held by Mark Barrow Fine Art (who represent the artists' estate) in London in October 2007.
Mark Barrow Fine Art represent the artists' estate, which spans five decades of work. Contact the gallery for details of works available.
Abstract expressionism
Abstract expressionism was an American post–World War II art movement. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve worldwide influence and put New York City at the center of the western art world, a role formerly filled by Paris...
painting of richly coloured stylised realism, often on a grand scale. He was also a teacher of painting for twenty years at the Central School of Art and Design in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
Early life
John Copnall was born in Slinfold, a village near Horsham in West Sussex. His father was the eminent sculptor Edward Bainbridge CopnallEdward Bainbridge Copnall
Edward Bainbridge Copnall MBE was a British sculptor.Son of photographer Edward White Copnall, Bainbridge Copnall was born in Cape Town, South Africa and was moved to Horsham at an early age...
(1903–1970) whilst his mother Muriel, his uncle and aunt Frank and Theresa Copnall were both enthusiastic amateur artists. Another uncle, Hubert Copnall (1918–1997), was also an artist and sculptor, although he spent over thirty years farming, having been initially so required as a World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
conscientious objector
Conscientious objector
A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, and/or religion....
. His paternal grandfather EW Copnall was a early photographer and artist.
Copnall showed early promise in drawing and his strong draughtsman skills would be at the heart of his work throughout his painting life. At the age of eighteen he began studies at the Architectural Association in London. This proved a poor choice of a career as Copnall lacked the required mathematical ability and used the excuse of his National Service to leave the profession permanently in order to become a professional artist
His Career in Spain
Initially Copnall started his painting studies under the tutelage of his father at the Sir John Cass School of Art in the City of London and then under the artist Sir Henry RushburyHenry Rushbury
Sir Henry George "Harry" Rushbury was an English painter and etcher.Born the son of a clerk in Harborne, then on the outskirts of Birmingham, Rushbury studied on a scholarship under Robert Catterson Smith at the Birmingham School of Art from the age of thirteen...
at the Royal academy Schools. His talent was obvious and he won the prestigious Turner Gold Medal for Landscape Painting in his final year in 1954.
In 1954 he visited Spain for what was intended to be a short visit. The effect was almost instant and he fell in love with the Iberian landscape staying for fourteen years. Whilst on Ibiza he married his first wife Madeleine Chardon with whom he had a daughter and when the marriage ended he moved to the mainland to live in a hacienda in the mountains above Malaga where he earned a living as a painter sometimes using the name of Juan de Retamá. The intense light of Spain and the visceral nature of its people changed his art fundamentally as he experimented with intense earthy colours whilst increasingly moving towards abstraction. Throughout his career Copnall was interested in using intense colour and the Spanish light undoubtedly enhanced his artistic senses.
As the 60’s progressed Copnall became fashionable and he began to sell his paintings to private collectors that included Melvyn Douglas
Melvyn Douglas
Melvyn Edouard Hesselberg , better known as Melvyn Douglas, was an American actor.Coming to prominence in the 1930s as a suave leading man , Douglas later transitioned into more mature and fatherly roles as in his Academy Award-winning performances in Hud...
. He had several solo exhibitions in Spain and Catalonia as well as shows in Germany where he was also popular and a lesser one in England in Newcastle. He said of his life in the 1960s: "No Beatles, but plenty of bullfighting, flamenco and Rioja!"
Return To England
In 1968 John Copnall returned to England and the following year held a solo exhibition at the Bear Lane Gallery in Oxford. His work was clearly influenced by that of American abstract expressionists such as Barnett NewmanBarnett Newman
Barnett Newman was an American artist. He is seen as one of the major figures in abstract expressionism and one of the foremost of the color field painters.-Early life:...
, Morris Louis and Mark Rothko
Mark Rothko
Mark Rothko, born Marcus Rothkowitz , was a Russian-born American painter. He is classified as an abstract expressionist, although he himself rejected this label, and even resisted classification as an "abstract painter".- Childhood :Mark Rothko was born in Dvinsk, Vitebsk Province, Russian...
with Copnall using acrylic paint on cotton duck on increasingly larger canvasses. His use of colour was exuberant. 'Painting is colour and colour is painting." said Copnall. In 1970 he won the E A Abbey Scholarship and further recognition followed with Art Council awards in 1973 and a British Council Award in 1979. As the 60s progressed abstract art began to lose influence as new ‘pop’ style were in vogue and to some extent Copnall found himself less fashionable during the late 70s and 80s.
A series of solo exhibitions were held throughout the 1970s but Copnall was becoming a peripheral figure in the context of mainstream English art. Nevertheless his influence on the next generation of British artists is evident following a twenty year period from 1973 to 1993 when Copnall worked as a teacher at the Central School of Art and Design. He had married for the second time in 1976 to Caroline Brown with whom he had a son and a daughter and he required the financial stability that teaching provided.The marriage was dissolved in 1997.
Later years in London
He was by 1982 working in an artists' colony in the East End of London having bought the defunct Spratts Dog Food warehouse in Bow whilst continuing his teaching role.In 1996 his solo show "Reflections, Orbits and Radiances" in the sympathetic surroundings of the De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill-on-Sea, Sussex drew mainly on work done in the period 1992-96. In the catalogue, Christopher Lloyd, Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures, considered that it was "difficult to think of a more appropriate setting for John Copnall's paintings" than this light-filled example of pioneering mid-1930s architecture.
In 1988 John Copnall was elected to the important London Group
London Group
The London Group is an artists' exhibiting society based in London, England, founded in 1913, when the Camden Town Group came together with the English Vorticists and other independent artists to challenge the domination of the Royal Academy, which had become unadventurous and conservative....
, an artists' exhibiting society based in London dating from 1913 and founded to help independent minded artists challenge the pre eminence of the Royal Society by promoting radical thought in English art. It was a natural place for the independent minded Copnall.
During the final years of his life Copnall painted infrequently and ceased all together following a stroke. He died on June 9, 2007 following a short illness.
A memorial exhibition was held by Mark Barrow Fine Art (who represent the artists' estate) in London in October 2007.
Selected Solo Exhibitions
- 1955 Piccadilly Gallery, London
- 1956 Sala Vayreda, Barcelona
- 1957 Galerie Wolfgang Gurlitt, Munich
- 1957 Galerie Boiserée, Cologne
- 1957 Univera-Haus, Nuremberg
- 1958 Institut fur Auslandbezierlhungen, Stuttgart
- 1968 Bear Lane Gallery, Oxford
- 1972 Institute of Contemporary Arts, London
- 1973 Ikon Gallery, Birmingham
- 1973 Richard Demarco Gallery, Edinburgh
- 1974 Prudoe Gallery in London
- 1974 Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museum
- 1979 Galerie Axel Mörner,Stockholm
- 1983 Oxford Gallery
- 1986 Reed’s Wharf Gallery, London
- 1996 De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill on Sea, Sussex
- 2005 John Copnall: Landscape Forms, Mark Barrow Fine Art (formerly Modern British Artists), London
- 2007 John Copnall: Space & Colour, Mark Barrow Fine Art, London
Selected Public Collections
- Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museum;
- Arts Council of Great Britain;
- Bristol University;
- Chelsea & Westminster Hospital;
- County Collection of Hertfordshire;
- York University;
- St.John’s College, Oxford;
- St. Mary’s College,Twickenham;
- Nuffield Foundation;
- Ateneum Museum, Helsinki, Finland;
- Sara Hildred Foundation Museum, Tampere, Finland
Mark Barrow Fine Art represent the artists' estate, which spans five decades of work. Contact the gallery for details of works available.
External links
- http://www.artnet.com/artists/john-copnall/
- http://www.britishartists.co.uk/john_copnall/index.htm
- http://www.thelondongroup.com/artists/copnall.html
- http://www.markbarrowfineart.co.uk