J. Bowyer Bell
J. Bowyer Bell | |
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| Born | November 15, 1931 New York City, U.S. |
| Died | August 23, 2003 (aged 71) New York City, U.S. |
| Education |
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| Occupation(s) | Historian, artist, art critic |
| Spouse(s) |
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| Children | 4 |
John Bowyer Bell (November 15, 1931 – August 23, 2003) was an American historian, artist and art critic. He was best known as a terrorism expert.
Background and early life
Bell was born into an
Fulbright, and travelled to Italy to study at the University of Rome.[2] Bell travelled Europe interviewing veterans of the Spanish Civil War, and in Rome he mixed with writers and artists including Cy Twombly.[2] After returning to America, Bell completed his doctorate at Duke in 1958.[1]
Professional career
After graduating, Bell began teaching at the
Egyptologist, and they moved into an apartment in Manhattan.[2] In New York, Bell socialised with the likes of Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, Jack Kerouac and Frank Stella at the Cedar Tavern.[2] Bell exhibited his paintings and collages at the Allan Stone Gallery, and collected paintings and sculptures by artists including John Chamberlain.[2] Bell was fascinated by global terrorism conflicts and decided to "write [his] way back into academia".[2][3]
While researching the
In 1966, his first book was published; Besieged: Seven Cities Under Siege. That same year he returned to Dublin with his family to continue his research. In 1967, he made his first visit to
Lehi's guerrilla campaign in the British Mandate of Palestine.[3] Following the death of his first wife in 1981, Bell married an Irishwoman, Norah Browne from County Kerry, whom he had met while filming his 1972 documentary, The Secret Army.[2]
He continued to work in other areas; he was an
Guggenheim Fellowships and turned down a Rockefeller Humanities Award.[1][2] Bell also continued his career in painting, receiving a Pollock-Krasner Fellowship and exhibiting work inspired by the conflicts he witnessed.[1][2] From 1979 onward, his paintings were exhibited annually at the Taylor Gallery in Dublin, and he also held exhibitions in Manhattan and Hungary.[2] Bell launched a career as an art critic in the 1990s, writing for New York-based journal Review, and he was also commissioned to write catalogue entries for galleries and museum retrospectives.[2][3]
| External videos | |
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 Booknotes interview with Bell on The Irish Troubles: A Generation of Violence, 1967-1992, June 6, 1993, C-SPAN |
Bell continued writing about the IRA and the ongoing events of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, and in 1994 he was a speaker at
Death
Bell died from
renal failure in a New York hospital on August 23, 2003.[2][5] His paintings continue to be exhibited since his death.[6]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p "John Bowyer Bell". The Daily Telegraph. October 15, 2003. Retrieved June 29, 2016.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Dannatt, Adrian (September 25, 2003). "J. Bowyer Bell". The Independent. Retrieved June 29, 2016.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q "J. Bowyer Bell". The Times. London. October 23, 2003. Retrieved May 18, 2020.
- ^ Anthony McIntyre (October 20, 2002). "Time has run out for an armed IRA". The Guardian. Retrieved February 11, 2008.
- ^ Saoirse Irish Freedom (September 2003). "J Bowyer Bell 1931–2003" (PDF). Republican Sinn Féin: 4. Retrieved February 12, 2008.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ Jameson, Michelle Boaen (October 24, 2007). "'Terror' shows expert's view of atrocities". The Gainesville Times. Archived from the original on January 23, 2013. Retrieved February 11, 2008.
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