Graham Bell

Graham Bell

1910 - 1943

b. 1910 in South Africa d. 1943 in England

Artist and journalist: painter of portraits, landscapes and still life subjects.

Studied at the Durban Art School, South Africa. First one-man show at the City Hall in Durban (1931).

Born in South Africa in 1910, Graham Bell moved to England to study under Duncan Grant. His artistic career began with painted abstracts but took a detour into journalism in the mid-1930s. Upon his return to painting, Bell became a founder of the School of Painting and Drawing at 316 Euston Road in London. He adopted a more naturalist style of painting to that of his previous, more modern and abstract works. As seen in "Old Barn", together with his teachings of what was later to become known as the Euston Road School, Bell's paintings and artistic leanings became synonymous with more traditional subjects represented in a realist manner. With the outbreak of war in 1939, Bell enlisted in the Royal Air Force. He tragically died during a training flight over England in 1943. This brought to a sudden end what had promised, and was expected, to be one of the most sensitive and conscientious artistic careers.