Robert Buhler
Robert Buhler
In Switzerland his name is spelled Bühler.
Early life
Buhler was born in London to Swiss parents, Robert Buhler and Lucie Kronig, who had married there. His father was a journalist[1] and aircraft designer.[2]
The young Buhler studied commercial art in
When the National Registration Act 1939 recorded all residents in October 1939, Buhler's parents were divorced, and he and his first wife were living in Doughty Street, St Pancras, where he was registered as "Painter, Commercial Artist".[5]
Career
Buhler painted London scenes and exhibited in the Royal Academy Summer Exhibitions from 1945 to 1948. While mostly a painter of places, he was also a portrait artist, his sitters including Francis Bacon, Barnett Freedman, John Minton, Ruskin Spear, Stephen Spender,[6] and Edith Evans playing Volumnia in Coriolanus.[7]
Buhler exhibited at many galleries and taught at the
In 1948 Buhler joined
Private life
In January 1938, Buhler married Evelyn M. Rowell,[10] and they had one son,[1] Michael, born in 1940. They divorced in 1951, and in 1962 Buhler married secondly Prudence Brochocka, but in 1972 this marriage also ended in divorce.[2]
Buhler’s son Michael, who also became an artist, was taught by his father at the Royal College of Art. He recalled his father suffering from visits from bailiffs as late as the 1960s "with patches on the walls where paintings had been, and ominous gaps among the furniture."[11]
Buhler died on 20 June 1989,[8] while living at 38, Onslow Square. He left an estate valued at £174,090.[12]
Notes
- ^ a b c "BUHLER, Robert, R.A. (1956)" in Bernard Dolman, ed., Who's Who in Art, Vol. 17 (1974), p. 67
- ^ a b "Robert Buhler R.A." in The Annual Obituary (1989), p. 343
- ^ a b c d "Robert Buhler" in The Artist, Vol. 92 (1977), p. 18
- ^ Tom Cross, Artists and Bohemians: 100 Years with the Chelsea Arts Club (1992), p. 146
- ^ National Registration Act 1939, Charlotte Street, St Pancras, Doughty Street, St Pancras, ancestry.com, accessed 26 November 2021 (subscription required)
- ^ a b ARTIST: ROBERT BUHLER R.A., blondesfineart.com, accessed 26 November 2021
- ^ The Illustrated London News, Vol. 236 (1960), p. 733: “... while in a different medium Robert Buhler has produced an excellent study in oils of Dame Edith Evans in the role of Volumnia in Coriolanus.”
- ^ a b c Robert Buhler RA, Royal Academy of Arts, accessed 26 November 2021
- ^ Green Park, 1947 Robert Buhler RA (1916–1989), Royal Academy of Arts, accessed 26 November 2021
- ^ "Robert Bühler" in England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1916-2005, ancestry.com, accessed 26 November 2021 (subscription required)
- ^ William Packer, "Michael Buhler obituary: Artist respected and admired for the sophistication and originality of his work", The Guardian, 9 December 2009
- ^ "BUHLER Robert of Flat 5 38 Onslow Sq London SW7 died 20 June 1989" in Wills and Administrations (England & Wales 1989 (1990), p. 1127
Further reading
- Colin Hayes, Robert Buhler (Academy Chicago Publishers, 1987, in Royal Academy Painters and Sculptors Series)