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Piers Browne - A painter & etcher of landscapes and seascapes who often shows in the Royal Academy Summer Show & November's New English Art Club but who leaves tradition behind, and uses the power of a new English 'Romantic' approach. He is 'moved' but uses more and more, especially when etching, the science of colour harmonies to evoke a season, a mood, a powerful natural force. He attempts to recreate, mainly, BEAUTY . Something must be working Ok as on the first June this year Piers won a highly Commended with an etching he really rates - EVENING, UPPER WENSLEYDALE FROM ELLERKIN - at the wonderful Ropewalk gallery in Barton on Humber in their prestigious, national PRINT OPEN show.
His next MAJOR show is at the JERICHO GALLERY in Jericho Street (off King St, in sight of the Ashmolean) OXFORD. it is from September 9th tyill oct 3. The gallery is open Wed - Sat 10 - 5. Plz do contact them for details of when Piers will talk on his work - and for a Preview invitation. The Blake Gallery in York's Blake St, just a street away from the Minster, closed Tues's and Sun's, is the main Northern stockist of Piers' oils and etchings.
Re: Books - after the Spring '08 launches of his latest huge handmade book, SONNETS FOR A SIREN ( ed 20) in Cambridge, Harrogate etc from January 2010 (8 left -one is at the renowned highclass bookseller Maggs in Berkeley Sq, London, Piers completes by 2012 (after 20 years work on and off on both!) two Children's books (possibly with a free cd of his music attached): FREYA certainly will be at a publisher in 2011 Summer. Meanwhile he continues to be a shade more experimental, making colour's hum in landscapes, especailly through etchings in a great series of Dawns and Dusks from one spot overlooking all of upper Wensleydale. One is done, sized 21 inch square - see 'SPRING EVENING: UPPER WENSLEYDALE" in ETCHINGS FOR SALE page
Piers followed a classical path through art schools and travelled widely in Europe and walking, with heavy oil easel, tracts of East Africa, before settling in Wensleydale in 1975. Though continually at a 10 + hour day he feels he is just arriving at his style - after 38 years at it.
- 1968-70 - Byam Shaw, London
under Peter Garrard and the wonderful principal Maurice de Saumarez.
- 1970 - Travelled in Africa, painting,
and 1971 spent a year copying in Europe's major museums from Paris (Louvre - Titian's "Deposition from Cross")
to Palermo via even the Pope's garden.
- 1972-75 - ROYAL ACADEMY SCHOOLS, London, where won David Murray Landscape prize 1974 & '75. The most underrated British landscape painter of all time, Peter Greenham, was Keeper and this genius' touch still touches Piers. Piers learnt to etch at the same time at Islington Studio, n. London under the late, great Hugh Stoneman.
- 1975 onwards
He settled in Wensleydale and has had to date over
75 One Man exhibitions as far afield as Reykjavik, Malibu, Munster
(North Germany) and for 20 years was part of the Askrigg Group
who exhibited in WENSLEYDALE (home base) every August - a
show seen by many Londoners who came for it
To date Piers has had over 24 pictures, oils and etchings, hung in the Royal Academy
- 1988 - Though he ferociously paints, his first limited edition (25) handmade 'coffee-table' book (again mass published soon after having of course being photographically reproduced) was with etchings - "A Shropshire Lad", illustrating the poems of AE Housman. Type set by hand, etchings made (like W Blake) was the format for years afterwards
- 1989 - His next book was small: "An Elegy in Arcady" 1989 (ed 8000)- a biography of Housman written and illustrated with 31 engravings which also was sold in a boxed set of 25 containing all the engravings. Some boxes left - you can see on appro.. please do ask as wonderful wedding presents.
- 1991- John Murray published his next large book "William Wordsworth - A Lakeland Anthology" - Wordsworth Poetry, with 54 coloured etchings; it was equal first in the WH Smith Illustrated Book of the Year Award, 1991. Some of these 50 or so etchings are still available - not the book, either the handmade or large public edition.
- 1993 - He began composing music
set with his published verse - as in 2 children's books, while
in 2002 he began ‘'SONNETS FOR A SIREN’ - his third totally handmade book in an edition
of 20 and now at over £3000 each - 9 sold to date (Spring 2009)
- 1993 - November - In conjunction with the Council for the Protection of Rural England, he presented a large show of his Oils and Etchings at Smiths Galleries, Convent Garden. Later, at the invitation of the Government of Iceland, he displayed them in Rejkyavik.
- 1994 - His fourth book - "Wensleydale" - Etchings and Verse by Piers Browne, was launched at the Medici Gallery, London. About 100 signed copies are left of the 4000 available from PB or his gallery stockists.(pring 2009)
- 1994 - Exhibition of Javanese pictures Ropner Gallery, London.
- 1996 - May - His "Shropshire Lad" etchings were shown at the Royal Festival Hall's Poetry Library.
- 1998 - Exhibitions "Watercolours to Drypoints" at Zella Gallery, Fulham, London in May - almost their last show - Piers stocked Zella from 1972 until late 1990's.
- 2001 - October
The Aegean Seen show at Godfrey and Watt in Westminster Arcade, Harrogate was the start of many almost sell-out One-mans there
Tel 01423 525300 - 2001 - February
Piers' "Boscobel Oak" etching was presented by Piers to Prince Charles at Boscobel House near Wolverhampton when HRH planted a replacement Oak.
- 2002 -The
main launch of The Glorious Trees of Great Britain book and huge
and small oils and etchings reproduced in the book was at NORTH LIGHT
GALLERY, Yorkshire Technology Park, Armitage Bridge, Huddersfield
Tel 01484 340003 e-mail
northlightgallery@supanet.com
- 2003 - March/April The
Scottish launch of Piers' trees book with all etchings
was in the spacious BROUGHTON PLACE nr. Peebles when run by the distinguished
watercolourist Graham Buchanan Dunlop; Piers had a
well visited large stand at The Chelse Flower Show that year
- 2003 - August Finally, after
25 years, shows of the Askrigg group (including the distinguished potter
Andrew Hague) ended
- 2004 - March/ April – New
small oils & etchings at Godfrey & Watt, Harrogate.
who always have a stock of PB's and regular One man's of his work
29 May /June - ABERYSTWYTH (tree etchings and some giant oil to shatter the peace) VENUE in foyer of The National Library at Aberystwyth.
October The Blake Gallery, Blake Street in central York - who continually stock PB
This huge one man exhibition of seascapes around Whitby & the Scottish Highlands, etc. was very successful, '06 October saw another huge One-man of Oils there - they stock Piers' oils permanently
- 2005 - The Craft Centre, Leeds City
Art Gallery, Leeds were TEN of Piers' largest, most audacious
etchings. (This gallery has a tiny permanent selection of Piers' prints)
NB Piers is seeking a Publisher
for his two childrens books, soon fully illustrated. He has been working on these
for twenty years and FREYA is to be completed by the Summer of 2011.
2006 saw a major show of 24 original oils, drawings & watercolours from which etchings were made for Piers' Tree book at Radnorshire Museum in Llandrindod Wells. [There is already a catalogue of etchings in his TREE BOOK so please e mail at piersbrowne@btinternet.com for one.]
Numerous company premises incl Price Waterhouse, Guinness, Newby Hall, Tarmac
Numerous private collections incl HRH Pr Charles, Felix Dennis, Edward Guinness & many ex Ministers of the Arts, Julie's Andrews/Christie etc He is proud both to regularly show st the GREAT NORTH ART SHOW in Ripon Cathedral and be a Patron of this wonderful summer event whose Preview evening this year is on THURSDAY 26th August from 7-9pm