Berenice Sydney
Berenice Sydney | |
---|---|
![]() Sydney in front of one of her paintings, London, 1972 (Photograph by Romano Cagnoni) | |
Born | Berenice Frieze 1944 |
Died | 1983 (aged 38–39) |
Nationality | British |
Known for | Painting, printmaking |
Spouse |
Berenice Sydney (1944–1983), born Berenice Frieze, and professionally known as 'Berenice', was a British artist who produced a substantial body of work from 1964 until her death in 1983. Her oeuvre consists of paintings on canvas and paper, drawings,
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fd/Grave_of_Berenice_Frieze_in_Highgate_Cemetery.jpg/220px-Grave_of_Berenice_Frieze_in_Highgate_Cemetery.jpg)
Biography
Berenice Sydney was born in Esher, Surrey in 1944 and educated from the age of six at the Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle in London. From her early years, she studied ballet with Marie Rambert and classical guitar with Adele Kramer. As an adult, she balanced a busy work schedule in her studio by training at the Dance Centre in Covent Garden and attending flamenco dance studios in Hampstead and New York City. Berenice was married to the Italian photographer Romano Cagnoni from 1970 until they divorced in February 1983.
In addition to reading the classics and studying mythology, she was fluent in five languages. She was enrolled at the Central School of Art and Design but left formal art education to set up a studio in Chelsea.[2]
She participated in over 40 exhibitions before her death of an asthma attack at the age of 39. She is buried in the eastern section of
Career
Berenice Sydney was included in ten group exhibitions between 1963 and 1975 and held eleven solo shows, in addition to being invited to represent Britain at the Biennale della Grafica d'Arte in Florence in 1974. The following year she showed her "stained-glass effect" canvases at the McAlpine Gallery of the
Her first professional exhibition was held at the Drian Galleries in 1968 and included
She began to exhibit her works on paper including Dancing Nymphs, Hermaphroditus, Pan and Two Nymphs, The Marriage of
Responding to the exhibition Salute to Berenice Sydney held at the Royal Academy Max Wykes-Joyce wrote:[3]
In the Spring of 1968 I was much charmed by a first one-person show at the Drian Galleries of large, lively paintings which evidenced the artist's interest in dance and music, and a group of black and white drawings on mythological themesm [sic?] made in her late teens and very early twenties by the young self-taught Berenice Sydney. I praised them greatly: subesequently [sic?] show of her work were in turn singled out for admiration in Arts Review by Marina Vaizey, Pat Gilmour, Oswell Baakeston and Charles Bone. And these praises were more recently joined by those of Kenneth Garlick of the Ashmolean Museum and David Brown of the Tate Gallery. Her painting evolved from figuration to an apparent abstraction which was, in truth, a dance of colours, an expression of natural exuberance. She was continually researching new means of printmaking and mixed media works, each kind of which is represented in this, her memorial exhibition.
Painting
Sydney's work developed from representational to semi-abstract, and she soon established her style in purest abstract form starting with tiny delicate Persian Garden designs, miniatures in naturalistic colours that become abstract etchings: Bakhtiari, The Sultan's Garden, Shirvan Kabistan II, Hachly Moons, Little Squares, Saruk, which were exhibited in 1969.
From 1973 her oils on canvas also began to develop into conceptual abstractions. From discernible figures worked in flowing brush strokes her forms became multi-faceted describing movement in hundreds of colour mutations and shapes. Sydney's later paintings were developed in series, based on specific organic forms, such as leaves (see illustration), that provided a dynamic structural frame for the buildup of paint across large canvasses. Colour combined with vortex-like compositions, starting from a central point to expand outwards, enabled the artist to explore the kinesthetic qualities of visual experience in a way that relates to Bridget Riley's later work.
Printmaking
Sydney continued to experiment in oils and other media and produced
Drawing
Sydney's drawing consistently used acrylic and oil pastels, ink and brush creating a series of works on Gemini paper. She produced a series of intensely detailed pen drawings merging the calligraphic with the figurative in a humorous way, as in Pen drawing with Jester, 1976.[4]
Children's books
Sydney wrote and illustrated a Book of Nonsense Verse 1982/3 later titled Book of Fools which she dedicated to the First of April. A page from this work featuring the poem The Ant who Danced and Pranced is featured in the catalogue to the exhibition Homage to Berenice Sydney. In it the art historian,
Exhibitions
Exhibitions during her lifetime 1968–1982
1968
- Drian Galleries, First One Person Show, London
- Leicester Galleries, - Group Show, London
- Edinburgh Festival Costume Designs for Workshops Production of Clown - Televised, Grampian Productions
- Magdelene Street Gallery. Group Show, Cambridge
- 1969 Traverse Theatre Gallery, Group Show, Edinburgh
- Lumley Cazalet Gallery, Group Show, London
- Camden Arts CentreGroup Show, London
- Tib Lane Gallery, Group Show, Manchester
- Royal Institute Galleries, Group Show F.I.B.A., London WI
1971
- International Student House, One Person Show, London
- Leicester Galleries. Group Show, London WI
- Richard Demarco Gallery, Group Show, Edinburgh
- Tib Lane Gallery, Group Show, Manchester
1972
- Galleria Stellaria One Person Show, Florence
- Zella 9 Gallery, Group Show, London
- Art in Steel Exhibition, Group Show, Millbank, London
- F.B.A. Galleries, Group Show, London SWI
- Magdelene Gallery, Group Show, Cambridge
1973
- Christopher Drake Gallery, Group Show, London
- Kenwood House Museum, Two Person Show, London, mounted by the Greater London Council
- Bear Lane Gallery, One Person Show, Oxford
- Van Dyke Gallery. One Person Show, Bristol University
- Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Group Show, Paris
- Artists from Five Continents" Group Show, Swiss Cottage Central Library
1974
- Education Gallery, One Person Show, Leeds City Art Gallery
- Willis Museum and Art Gallery. One Person Show, Basingstoke
- Biennale della Grafica d'Arte, Florence, Italy representing Great Britain
- Haworth Art Gallery, Accrington, One Person Show
1975
- McAlpine Gallery, One Person Show, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
- County Museum, One Person Show, Warwick
- Museum and Art Gallery. Three Person Show, Leicester
- Galleria d'Arte, One Person Show, Milan
- St Catherine's College, Oxford One Person Show, Oxford
- Trinity College, Oxford. One Person Show
- Leicester Museum & Art Gallery. Prints
1976
- Biennale Européan de la gravure, Group Show, Mulhouse
- Galeria Peters, Group Show, Buenos Aires
- Gallery of Modern Art, Two Person Show, Buenos Aires
- Cardiff University, One Person Show, Cardiff
- Leeds Art Gallery, Series of 6 lectures and demonstrations of etching techniques
1982
- The Society of Graphic Artists
- Hampstead Artists Council
- Free Painters and Sculptors
- Chelsea Art Society
Posthumous exhibitions 1984 onward
1984
- Salute to Berenice Royal Academy. One Person Show, London
- Exhibition of British Art, Abu Dhabi Group Show
- Exhibition of British Art, Gulf of Bahrain, Group Show
- British Council Paris, Group Show
- Centenary Exhibition, Leicestershire Museum and Art Gallery, Group Show
1985
- Homage à Berenice Sydney, Edwin Engelberts Galerie d'Art Contemporain, One Person Show, Geneva
1986
- Christmas Exhibition' Lumley Cazalet Fine Art, Group Show, London
1987
- Berenice Sydney, Gallery of British Contemporary Art, One Person Show, Lausanne
1988
- Berenice Sydney, La Galerie Michel Foex, Watercolour painting, One Person Show
1989
- Women in Art, Bowmoore Gallery, Group Show, London
1990
- Contemporary British Artists, Waterman Fine Art, Group Show, London
1991
- The London Original Print Fair, Royal Academy of Art, London
Represented by Lumley Cazalet
- From Fautrier to Rainer, La Galerie Michel Foex, Group Show, Geneva,
including Henri Michaux, Brice Marden, Ben Nicholson, Jean Fautrier 1992
- Homage to the British Artist Berenice Sydney, Galerie Nelly L'Epattenier, One Person Show, Lausanne
1993
- Homage à Berenice, L'Exemplaire, Geneva, One Person Show
- The London Original Print Fair, The Royal Academy of Art, Represented by Peter Black
1994
- Berenice Sydney, L'Exemplaire, Geneva, One Person Show
1995
- Art'95 Contemporary British Art Fair, London
- Milan, Book Print Fair Group
- The Chelsea Art Society Group Exhibition
- A private exhibition of rare and original European prints 18th-20th century at Austin Desmonds, Campbell Fine Art
- Magnat Gallery, London
1996
- L'Exemplaire, Geneva, One person show
1998
- Girls, Girls, Girls, Deborah Bates Gallery, London
2002
- Group show, La Galerie Michel Foex, Geneva, including Ben Nicholson, Rachel Whiteread
2006
- Watercolours and Drawings Fair, James Kinmont Fine Art and John Iddon Fine Art, Royal Academy, London
- Chelsea Art Fair, John Iddon Fine Art, Royal Hospital, Chelsea, London
- Exhibition 9 paintings from the Orbit series, Modern British Artists, London
2008
- Watercolours and Drawings Fair, Modern Works on Paper, James Kinmont Fine Art, Royal Academy, London
- Chelsea Art Fair, John Iddon Fine Art, Chelsea Old Town Hall, London
2010
- 20/21 British Art Fair, John Iddon Fine Art, Royal College of Art, London
Public collections
Museums and galleries
- The British Museum, London
- The Victoria and Albert Museum, London
- The Tate Gallery, London
- The British Council, London
- The Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
- The Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris
- Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam
- The Royal Library of Belgium Brussels
- The Uffizi Gallery, Florence
- Galleria M. Arte Moderna, Bologna
- The Phillips Collection, Washington
- The National Library of Congress, Washington
- The Smithsonian Institution, Washington
- Philadelphia Museum of Art
- Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University
- Menil Collection, Houston, Texas
- Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, USA
- Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York
- Capital Nacional de la Nautica, Buenos Aires
- Graphische Sammlung der ETH, Zürich, Switzerland
- New York Public Library New York, USA
- Jenisch Collection, Musée Cantonale, Vevey, Switzerland
- Victoria Art Gallery, Bath
- City Art Gallery, Bradford
- Museum and Art Gallery, Bolton
- Cecil Higgins Art Gallery and Bedford Museum
- County Museum, Derby
- Towner Art Gallery, Eastbourne
- City Art Gallerv, Glasgow
- Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne
- Leicester City Gallery
- Graves Art Gallery, Sheffield
- Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
- City Museum & Art Gallery, Newport
- Reading College & School of Arts and Design now Thames Valley University
- Luton Museum & Art Gallery, Luton
- South London Gallery
- Museum of Reading
- Newnham City Collection
- City Art Gallery, Wakefield
- Humberside Education Services
- Humberside Leisure Services
- Batley Library
- Rochdale Libraries Art Services
- Museum & Art Gallery, Rochdale
- Durham County Council
- Norwich Castle Museum
- Nonsuch High School
- Cecil Higgins Gallery, Bedford
- Museum and Art Gallery, Oldham
- Lincoln
- Portsmouth City Art Gallery
Public and university collections
- University of Sussex
- University of Manchester
- Cardiff University
- University of Bristol
- University of Bath
- University of Glasgow
- University of Cardiff
- University of Lancaster
- University of Sheffield
- University of Salford
- Bristol Education Authority
- Leeds Education Department
- Reading Education Department
- Derbyshire County Council
- Inner London Education Department (ILEA)
- Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Trust
- St Thomas' Hospital, London
- St Mary's Hospital, London
- Bingley & Havering County Council
- London Borough of Bromley
- Education Office, Preston
- Lancashire County Council
- Nottingham Education Committee
Corporate and commercial collections
- James Walter Thompson London
- First National Bank of Boston
- Chase Manhattan Bank
- Stellaria Galleria, Florence
- Pallas Gallery
- Lumley Cazalet Gallery
- Bear Lane Gallery, Oxford
- Drian Galleries, London
- Butler Miller
- Wilkin Warburton
- World Graphics
- Hilton Hotels
Private collections
- John Jacobs, Curator of Historic Museums and Director of the Iveagh Bequest Kenwood House London
- Galeria Peters, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Private Collections, San Francisco, California, USA
- Private Collection, Washington D.C., USA
- Private Collection, Los Angeles, California, USA
- Private Collection, New York City, USA
- Private Collection, Geneva, Switzerland
- Patrick Cramer, Geneva, Switzerland
- Michel Foex, Geneva, Switzerland
- Darius Dabatabay, Geneva, Switzerland
- Lady Noel Annesly, England
- Christopher Johnston Collection, England
- Mr. and Mrs. Hariton Embiricos, Greece
- Sueo Mitsuma, Tokyo
- Lord Alistair McAlpine, England
- Linda Talbot, England
- 4 Private Collections, Sydney, Australia
References
- ^ The papers of Berenice Sydney (TGA 200711), Tate Archive, The Archive of British Art since 1900, London
- ISBN 978-0-9532609-5-9
- ^ a b Max Wykes-Joyce, "Berenice Sydney", 'Arts Review', March 1984
- ^ a b Florian Rodari Homage to Berenice Sydney, Edwin Engelberts, Galerie Art Contemporain, Geneva 1985