Brian Thomas (church artist)

Brian Thomas (1912–1989) OBE was a British artist best known for his decorative work in church buildings, particularly murals and stained glass.

Biography

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Brian Thomas was born in Barnstaple, Devon, on 19 September 1912 to Frank and Margaret (née Lauder). He was educated at Bradfield College and awarded a science scholarship to study at Oxford University. He chose instead to attend the Byam Shaw School of Art in London. There he won a scholarship to the British School at Rome to study mural painting and travelled widely in Italy and Spain. During the war, he worked in the camouflage section of Home Security. From 1946 to 1954, he was principal of the Byam Shaw School of Art. He was a Master of the Art Workers Guild (1957)[1] and a Master of the Worshipful Company of Glaziers and Painters of Glass. In 1961 he was awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE). He died on 13 December 1989, and a memorial service was held at St Giles in the Fields in London.[2][3][4]

A ‘Brian Thomas Memorial Prize’ (worth £2000 in 2018) is awarded by the Worshipful Company of Glaziers and Painters of Glass as part of its annual Stevens Competition for Architectural Glass.[5]

Iconography

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A photograph of Thomas at work in his studio in St John's Wood, London, taken about 1955 by Chris Ware (Keystone Features) can be found in the Getty Images online database.[6] It shows him painting glass panels for newly commissioned altar rails at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. The chapel's altar-rails project is described, with images of the panels themselves, in the December 1956 Report of the Society of the Friends of St George's and Descendants of the Knights of the Garter[7]

List of works

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References

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  1. ^ "I. Formative Years". Journal of the Royal Institute of British Architects. 64: 218. 1957.
  2. ^ 'The Original Banbury Cakeshop Mural' by Simon Townsend. The Cake and Cockhorse: Proceedings of the Banbury Historical Society (Vol. 18, No. 2, Spring 2010), pp. 44–48. Online resource. Retrieved 28 March 2019
  3. ^ a b c Brian Thomas, Westminster Abbey website, online resource. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t 'The Original Banbury Cakeshop Mural' by Simon Townsend. The Cake and Cockhorse: Proceedings of the Banbury Historical Society (Vol. 18, No. 2, Spring 2010) 'Appendix 1: Works by Brian Thomas', pp.48–49. Online resource. Retrieved 28 March 2019
  5. ^ ‘Stevens Competition Winners 2018’. Website of ‘’The Worshipful Company of Glaziers and Painters of Glass’’. Retrieved 31 March 2019
  6. ^ Portrait of artist Brian Thomas at work painting a glass mural for the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, at his studio in St John's Wood, London, circa 1955. Getty Images, online resource. Retrieved 30 March 2019
  7. ^ a b 'The Altar Rails" by Canon E. M. Venables, in Report of the Society of the Friends of St George's and Descendants of the Knights of the Garter (December 1956), pp. 8–9 (with b/w images). Online resource. Retrieved 30 March 2019
  8. ^ 'The Altar'. All Hallows by the Tower parish website, online resource. Retrieved 30 March 2019
  9. ^ 'Features to note within the Cathedral'. Diocese of Bangor, Deanery of Ogwen, Cathedral Church of St Deniol, Bangor, online resource (PDF). Retrieved 30 March 2019
  10. ^ Original Banbury Cakeshop Mural' by Simon Townsend.[permanent dead link] The Cake and Cockhorse: Proceedings of the Banbury Historical Society (Vol. 18, No. 2, Spring 2010) 42–53. Online resource. Retrieved 28 March 2019
  11. ^ a b Clive Aslet 'An Interview with the late PAUL PAGET 1901–1985' in The Thirties Society Journal, No. 6 (1987), pp. 16–25 (Published by The Twentieth Century Society.)
  12. ^ The Sailors Return. London Walking Tours. Online resource. Retrieved 26 April 2019
  13. ^ 'The Chapel' Archived 13 January 2013 at the Wayback Machine, Fulham Palace website. Retrieved 30 March 2019
  14. ^ The Buildings of England. London 3: North West by Bridget Cherry and Nikolaus Pevsner (Yale University Press, 1991), 204.
  15. ^ Nicholas and All Hallows, Aberfeldy Street, Poplar'. London Churches in Photographs. Online resource, accessed 14 September 2024,
  16. ^ Stephen, Canonbury Road, Canonbury'. London Churches in Photographs. Online resource, accessed 14 September 2024,
  17. ^ 'Templewood'. Historic England. Online resource. Retrieved 26 April 2019