Cause of death Air raid Role Painter Name Percy Shakespeare | Occupation Painter Education Dudley Art School | |
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Born 28 February 1906 ( 1906-02-28 ) Kates Hill, Dudley, Worcestershire, England Died 1943, Brighton, United Kingdom | ||
Alma mater Birmingham School of Art | ||
Herb Weidner Afternoon on Ice
Percy Shakespeare (born 28 February 1906 in Dudley, England; died 25 May 1943 in Brighton, England) was an English painter. He was a celebrated artist, but died in an air raid during the Second World War.
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Life and work
Shakespeare was born in 1906 in the slums of the Kates Hill area of Dudley, the fourth of eight children of John Thomas Shakespeare and his wife Ada. His family subsequently moved to council housing in the nearby Wren's Nest Estate area.
In 1920, after a chance meeting at the Dudley Museum and Art Gallery with Ivo Shaw, the principal of Dudley Art School, the young Percy Shakespeare was offered a place at the school where his fees were waived for his eight years attendance. Here he showed a talent for figure drawing and portraits. Eventually he attended Birmingham School of Art, where he studied anatomical drawing under Harold Holden from 1923 to 1927 and obtained an Art Masters Certificate in Anatomical Drawing, and qualified as a teacher. He taught at Birmingham and Kidderminster.
Barbara Wilkinson, daughter of the curator of Dudley Art Gallery, sat as a child for several of his paintings, including Caravanners and Tropical Bird House, Dudley Zoo.
In 1933, he had his first exhibit at the Royal Academy, "A Mulatto", a portrait of a lady, which was later bought by Dudley Art Gallery. Throughout the 1930s, he continued to paint and produced a number of paintings each year (mainly in oil) that were submitted to the Royal Academy, and often accepted for exhibition. He also exhibited at the Paris Salon and at the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists, of which he was elected an associate in 1936.
During this period, he was living at 12, Maple Road Dudley (52.51946°N 2.08887°W / 52.51946; -2.08887).
When World War II broke out in 1939, he enlisted in the Royal Navy, and trained at HMS Vernon.
Death and legacy
In May 1943, whilst stationed ashore at Roedean School in East Sussex, he was killed when a German bomber jettisoned its payload over the south coast, when he was walking alone, opposite Marine Gate in Brighton.
He left behind many paintings and drawings showing life in the 1930s, many of which are held at Dudley Museum and Art Gallery.
In an obituary, Ivo Shaw was quoted as saying: "He was the best painter in oils the School had produced".
In 2009, his work was featured in an episode of BBC TV's Flog It!.