Deirdre Borlase Explained

Deirdre Borlase
Birth Date:1925
Birth Place:Dulwich, London
Nationality:British
Known For:Painting
Spouse:Frederick Brill

Deirdre Borlase (1925–2018) was a British painter and printmaker.

Biography

Borlase was born at Dulwich in London and grew up Margate, where her father was a plumber.[1] She studied at the Bromley School of Art between 1940 and 1944 and then at the Royal College of Art in London for a further two years.[2] After graduating she taught at the Harrow School of Art for two years and then at the Kingston School of Art until 1950.[3] After a career break, Borlase returned to art in 1967, creating landscapes of Venice and, later, of Carperby in north Yorkshire where the family had a cottage from 1961.[3] [1] She was commissioned for six paintings by St Luke's Hospital in Bradford.[3] As well as painting Borlase took up print making after taking a course at Morley College in 1977 and in the 1990s began experimenting with computer graphics and also decorating furniture.[3] Borlase was a frequent exhibitor at the Royal Academy in London and in group shows. She had a solo show at the David Thompson Gallery in 1979 and exhibited on a regular basis at the Broughton House Gallery in Cambridge from 1989.[3] Later she regularly showed new work with the Zillah Bell Gallery in Thirsk.[1]

While a student at the Royal College of Art, Borlase met, and later married, the artist Frederick Brill, (1920–1984), who became the principal of the Chelsea Art School.[2] The couple's work was subject of a two person exhibition in 1986 and featured in the 1993 exhibition Relative Values at the Smith Art Gallery and Museum in Stirling.[3] Borlase's paintings featured in the exhibition The Secret to a Good Life which opened at the Royal Academy in September 2018, some months after she died.[4] [5] The exhibition was curated by one of her three children, the artist Bob and Roberta Smith.[4] [5]

Notes and References

  1. News: Deirdre Borlase obituary. 30 July 2018. Bob and Roberta Smith. The Guardian. 6 June 2020.
  2. Book: Frances Spalding. Antique Collectors' Club. 1990. 20th Century Painters and Sculptors . Frances Spalding . 1-85149-106-6.
  3. Book: David Buckman. Art Dictionaries Ltd. 2006. Artists in Britain Since 1945 Vol 1, A to L . 0-953260-95-X.
  4. Web site: The Secret to a Good Life. Royal Academy. 2018. 6 June 2020.
  5. News: Bob and Roberts Smith's family values and pencil power at the Royal Academy of Arts. 6 September 2018. Louisa Buck. The Art Newspaper. 7 June 2020.