Reginald BRILL ( 1902 - 1974 )

REGINALD BRILL 1902 - 1974
PRINCIPAL, KINGSTON SCHOOL OF ART - 1934 to 1962

Born in London in 1902, Reginald BRILL spent his early childhood there and in Yorkshire. Just after the beginning of the First World War, at the age of 13, he was living in lodgings in London, working in a City office and attending St Martins School of Art in the evenings. Considering his almost total lack of formal education in his teenage years, winning a scholarship to The SLADE School in 1921, where he studied under the famous HENRY TONKS for three years, was a formidable achievement.
Leaving The Slade School he found patronage in Lincolnshire painting MURALS for Christopher Hatton-Turner for two years; by the time of the General Strike in 1926 he was in London, working on LANSBURY'S LABOUR WEEKLY.
He married Rosalie, also a painter, and in 1927 he won the much coveted PRIX de ROME in DECORATIVE PAINTING. As a result of the liberal approach just initiated by the School of Rome's Director,Professor Bernard ASHMOLE, who was appointed in 1925, wives were enabled to take up residence at the British School of Rome with their husbands. As a result Brill took Rosalie with him to stay at the BRITISH SCHOOL. Otherwise they could not have afforded to live in Rome for two years. BRILL's's portrait of the Director BERNARD ASHMOLE, painted in 1927, sold out of his 1985 Retrospective at Kingston was recently acquired by The British School, and then included in the book published by the BRITISH SCHOOL of ROME celebrating it's Centenary in 2001.
Following his stay at THE BRITISH SCHOOL of ROME, and his year in Egypt, BRILL obtained a teaching post at BLACKHEATH School of Art.

During 1930 he spent three months painting in EGYPT as the guest of the Egyptian Government. Whilst staying in Cairo he met Col.T.G.GAYER-ANDERSON, and his twin brother who, following many lengthy consultations with BRILL in the next twenty years or so, bequeathed their English home,THE LITTLE HALL, MARKET SQUARE, LAVENHAM, SUFFOLK as a Hostel for Art Students, to the SURREY COUNTY COUNCIL, owners of the KINGSTON SCHOOL of Art.
BRILL took up his appointment at The School of Art, Kingston-upon-Thames in January 1934. It was situated in the Technical Institute (Kingston Hall Road) and Brill found it was "bohemian and disorganised". He proceeded to inject enthusiasm, order and discipline, and within 5 years of his appointment a new purpose built SCHOOL OF ART was opened in KNIGHTS PARK. It stayed open throughout the war and by 1945 there was one of the longest waiting lists in England for places.
Under the skilled and totally dedicated direction of REGINALD BRILL, the Kingston School of Art had established a National reputation for excellence, and REGINALD BRILL was the real driving force behind the ambitious expansion programme of the School during the nineteen fifties.
In 1961, The PRESIDENT of THE ROYAL ACADEMY, Sir Charles Wheeler opened the present new buildings at Knights Park. Costing £100.000,(in those days an enormous sum of money) this had more than doubled the size of the Kingston School of Art.

BRILL,‘REGGIE', was a well known figure in Kingston. His eloquence made him popular as a guest speaker and his promotion of Art and Design stretched well beyond the doors of Knights Park. Apart from establishing two of the main buildings now known as the FACULTY of DESIGN, one of his most lasting creations was the establishment of a Topographical Collection depicting Kingston, now known as 'THE BRILL COLLECTION' and housed at The Royal Borough's Museum.

REGINALD BRILL was hugely respected and admired by the hundreds of pupils who studied at Kingston during his 28 year leadership. He also published two books, MODERN PAINTING, 1946 and ART as a CAREER, 1962, both bearing a strong educational angle. He was a regular exhibitor of both his paintings, and his acutely observed drawings, along with leading artists of the day at THE ROYAL ACADEMY SUMMER EXHIBITIONS.
Following his retirement to Lavenham, he spent ten happy years as Warden of The Little Hall, he was a regular exhibitor at Phoenix Gallery Lavenham, and he was lucky enough to have a large Retrospective Exhibition with them in 1974.

All the while he was a prolific artist, although, reading his diaries,and like so many artists, he was intensely self critical. His perfectionism, acute powers of observation and relentless research can be seen in his drawings, which via the media and methods he explored throughout his life reflected mid 20th century British Art at its most typical.

His series of major paintings, known as ‘ The Martyrdom of Man’, were carried on in parallel to his career as a teacher. These paintings reflect his care for his fellow men and depict people at work, eg The Operation, Jury, Linemen, Waiting Room, and Rest.
'THE OPERATION' was sold from the 1985 Kingston Retrospective and has since been acquired by The WELLCOME FOUNDATION as part of its Medical Art Collection. 'REST' was bought by the TATE GALLERY whilst the book 'Brill' was being edited, and today hangs in TATE BRITAIN.
His less monumental works also deal with familiar themes of everyday events and communication amongst people; so the Cattle series such as 'The Bull Ring', 'The 'Market Place' and 'The Black Bull' paintings are a true reflection of Brill's admiration for the farmers and auctioneers who earned their livelihoods in cattle breeding in the East Anglian countryside. Similarly he painted a striking series of pig breeding works, the largest of which, 'Pig Market' is a really
superb piece of craftsmanship.
So, it was to LAVENHAM in Suffolk that Brill retired,as Warden of The Little Hall, enabling him to continue nurturing art students until his untimely death just after his superb Lavenham Retrospective in 1974.

Noel Oddy July 2004
Copyright www.oddyart.com 2004

"Reggie BRILL was a versatile artist who valued drawing as the solid base for his, and also his students work. He is associated particularly with human figure compositions, but he also worked on landscapes, portraits and details of plants, animals, interiors etc. As one would expect he moved from one media to another, and his unusual series of hand painted and cut paper mosaics are beautifully designed and worked.

The intrinsic Englishness of his work, with its narrative themes and the emphasis on people in their working environment, combined with his interest and concern in human behaviour results in a legacy of excellence as yet unexploited by the art world."

(Leo Duff. Brill Project Curator).

Biographical notes:

1902 Born Hither Green, London
1917 - 1918 Attended St Martins School of Art
1920 Awarded LCC Scholarship to Slade School of Art
1920 - 1923 Attended Slade School of Fine Art under Professor Tonks
1922 - 1924 Employed at Stoke Rochford Hall by Christopher Hatton Turner - Mural painting
12th October 1925 - Married Rosalie Clarke at Fulham Register office
1925 - 1927 Freelance contributor to Lansbury's Labour Weekly
1927 Won Prix de Rome, Decorative Painting
1927 - 1929 Scholar, British School at Rome
1929 Taught, Blackheath School of Art
1930 Invited to spend 6 months in Cairo & Alexandria as a guest of the Egyptian government.
Met Major Robert Gayer-Anderson. Painted Cities, landscapes and the River Nile.Returned to England via the Greek islands and Italy.
1933 Appointed Head,Kingston School of Art
1934 Took up Kingston appointment.
Embarked upon his programme of large paintings with the theme "The Martyrdom of Man".
1937 Mr & Mrs Brill moved to 6b Palace Road, Kingston.
1939 12th October Kingston School of Art moved into new purpose-built quarters in Knights Park
1940 Mr & Mrs Brill moved to 1 Crescent Road Kingston
1941 Fire-watching duties at Knights Park
1942 Visited the Gayer-Anderson brothers at The Little Hall,Market Square,Lavenham, Suffolk to discuss the possibility of the house being left to Surrey County Council as a Hostel for Art Students as an annexe of Kingston School of Art.
1946 Published 'Modern painting and its roots in European tradition'
1951 BRILL's 'Seaside Promenade'was one of several murals mounted by staff and students at the FESTIVAL OF BRITAIN ,South Bank
1952 Brill's 'The Lord Mayor of Kingston, Town Clerk and Macebearer in procession at the Proclamation of Queen Elizabeth II' (RBK)
1955 Initiated the 'BRILL Collection' -whereby the Royal Borough of Kingston-upon-Thames commissioned local artists to paint local views
1959 Appeared on BBC 'Monitor' programme with artists Keith Grant and Malcolm Kador from KSA to discuss what students hoped to gain from attending art school
1960 Colonel Gayer-Anderson died.
Brill visited Lavenham to finalise the transfer of The Little Hall to The Surrey County Council
1961 Kingston School of Art new £100,000 extension opened at Knights Park by Sir Charles Wheeler, President of the Royal Academy
1962 Retired as Principal,Kingston School of Art, handing over to his successor Wilfrid Fairclough.
1962. Moved to Lavenham, took up appointment as Warden,The Little Hall,Market Square,Lavenham
25 May 1974 Large Retrospective Exhibition at
The Phoenix Gallery, Lavenham Suffolk
14 June 1974 Died at Little Hall Lavenham Suffolk
May 1985 Retrospective Exhibitions at Kingston School of Art and Kingston Heritage Centre, curated by Noel Oddy, Director of "The Phoenix Gallery,Lavenham"
May 1987 Major Exhibition"EIGHT BRITISH ARTISTS" featuring works by the following artists:

John BRATBY RA Reginald BRILL
Hugh CRONYN Charles CUNDALL RA,RWS
Frederick GORE CBE,RA Liam HANLEY
James MACKEOWN Douglas WILSON RCA

The Exhibition was officially opened by SIR ROGER de GREY,President of the ROYAL ACADEMY, sponsored by both KINGSTON UNIVERSITY and THE ROYAL BOROUGH of KINGSTON-ON-THAMES at Trading Standards House.
Curator & Organiser:Noel Oddy,Phoenix Gallery Lavenham.

MAY1999 "REGINALD BRILL" by Judith Bumpus - published by Scolar Press in association with Kingston University
MAY 1999 Exhibitions of Reginald BRILL's work at The Stanley Picker Gallery, Knights Park specially timed to coincide with

(a)The launch of the book: REGINALD BRILL.

(b) SCHOOL OF ART CENTENARY celebrations - in which Special EXHIBITS of BRILL's works were a special feature.

Paintings