Sunday 4 December 2011

Charles Burleigh, Hove artist

The Burleigh family taking tea in Wilbury Crescent, Hove. c.1940
This painting by Charles H.H. Burleigh is in the collection of the Geffrye Museum, Shoreditch. Burleigh, 1875-1956, studied at Brighton School of Art and in Paris, and painted a variety of subject matter in both oil and watercolour. The artist was married to Averil Burleigh, another artist, and they had 7 Wilbury Crescent built in 1905. Their daughter, Veronica, was also a painter. 

Brighton Art Gallery has 22 paintings by Charles in its collection, including "Brighton Front", below, the painting for which he is best known locally.

Brighton Front 1920
Other well-known paintings are his interiors of the Royal Pavilion when it was in use as an Indian hospital and the interior of the Brighton Arts Club c.1930, which portrays many local artists of that period. The latter is currently on display in Brighton Art Gallery.

The Gallery also has seven paintings by Averil and two by his daughter, including a portrait of her father at his easel. Not all the paintings are on display. The family were discussed in an article by Hilary Chapman in the Antique Dealer and Collector's Guide of March 1998.

Charles Burleigh was a member of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters (ROI) and the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours (RI). He exhibited quite widely at their exhibitions and at such venues as the Royal Academy and the Fine Art Society. He seems to have been a  prolific painter throughout his life and, perhaps because of this, many of his works fetch only of the order of £100-£200 at auction.

4 comments:

  1. I love the quiet domesticity of the first painting. Especially as at that moment the Battle of Britain could have been taking place directly over their heads.

    The view into the lovely garden is so inviting.

    I can never recall the prom in Hove ever being so crowded. Don't you just went to step out and join the melee!

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  2. The painting is incorrectly dated. According to the Geffrye Museum, Shoreditch, who own the painting, the date is c.1947. See also Robert Nemeth's article on 7 Wilbury Crescent http://www.buildingopinions.com/2011/05/17/7-wilbury-crescent/

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  3. Thank you anonymous. It was in the Geffrye Museum that I saw the painting and I believe I used their caption. Presumably they have had a rethink.

    See also:- http://brightonbits.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/the-burleighs-distaff-side.html

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  4. I live in a regency block called Burleigh Court on Brighton seafront. The painting called Brighton Front is painted from opposite the building. Could it be named after him and his family?
    Trev

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