Roger de Grey
Sir Roger de Grey, PRA (18 April 1918 –14 February 1995, in London) was a landscape painter. From 1984 to 1993 he served as President of the Royal Academy.
Early life and education
Born in 1918 at Penn, Buckinghamshire, a scion of the ancient Grey family,[1] Roger de Grey was a nephew of the noted post-impressionist English landscape painter, Spencer Gore.[2] He studied art at Chelsea Polytechnic from 1936–1939. During World War II he was commissioned in the Royal Armoured Corps. After the War he returned to Chelsea to complete his studies from 1946–1947. His tutors included Ceri Richards, Robert Medley, Harold Sandys Williamson and Raymond Coxon. De Grey was a landscape artist, often working in Kent and in France, painting outdoors and then finishing his work in his studio. His first solo exhibition was at the Thomas Agnew & Sons Gallery in 1954.[3] Later he exhibited at the Tate Gallery and Royal Academy, as well as internationally. His paintings are still sought after by collectors.[4]
Teaching and administration
De Grey had a long and distinguished career as an art educator: a Lecturer of King's College, Newcastle upon Tyne (1947–1951), then Master of Painting (1951–1953), at the Royal College of Art, he was Senior Tutor, and later Reader in Painting from 1953-1973. From 1973-1995 he was the Principal of the City and Guilds of London Art School. He was also a Trustee of the National Portrait Gallery from 1984 to 1995.[5] In 1962, Roger de Grey was elected an Associate member of the Royal Academy, becoming a full Academician in 1969. From 1976 until 1984, he was the Treasurer of the RA under Sir Hugh Casson. De Grey succeeded Casson as President in 1984. Roger de Grey was elected Senior RA in October 1993, the year he stepped down from being President. He was elected an honorary member of the Royal West of England Academy of Art (RWA) in 1994.
Family
A great-nephew of the 7th Baron Walsingham, de Grey was knighted in 1991 for "services to British art". The Royal Academy provided an exhibition of his work in memoriam in 1996. The Tate Gallery and Arts Council of Great Britain hold several examples of his work.
In 1842, he married Flavia Hart, R.A., (née Irwin) and died in London in 1995, aged 77.[6] Sir Roger and Lady de Grey had three children: Spencer, Robert and Emilia.
See also
References
- ↑ www.cracroftspeerage.co.uk
- ↑ Biography at Royal Academy website
- ↑ Tomes, Jason (2004). "Grey, Roger". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/59121. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ↑ ibid
- ↑ Obituary from The Independent newspaper by Norman Rosenthal
- ↑ Mosley, Charles (ed.) (2003). Burke's Peerage & Baronetage, 107th edn. London: Burke's Peerage & Gentry Ltd. p. 4065 (WALSINGHAM, B). ISBN 0-9711966-2-1.
External links
- Paintings by Roger de Grey at the Art UK site
- Artnet website page
- National Portrait Gallery website page
| Cultural offices | ||
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| Preceded by Sir Hugh Casson |
_highres.png){kind=small} President of the Royal Academy 1984–1993 |
Succeeded by Sir Philip Dowson |
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