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Introduction

NOTES

To purchase works by Robert Sawyers or for further information please email contact@robertsawyers.co.uk

If you own any paintings or drawings by Robert Sawyers that you would like displayed on this site please email the images together with any relevant notes to contact@robertsawyers.co.uk - your personal details will remain confidential unless we are otherwise advised.

LATEST NEWS

NEW BOOK - MAY 2005
Robert's drawing of barrage balloons over Penge (London, S.E.20) in 1939 which originally appeared in the Beccehamian school magazine (Autumn 1939 issue) has recently been selected for inclusion in a new book by Cliff Watkins and Pat Manning. The book is entitled Beckenham The Home Front 1939-1945 [ISBN 0-9540202-2-7] and is published by Jenna Publishing. See Gallery: Early Days.

WEB SITE UPDATES

[Date Last Updated]	[Document, Page or Section]
11th August 2005	Latest News <new book, published May 2005>
23rd May 2006	Links <new section: Art Schools and Colleges>

INTRODUCTION

Robert Sawyers was an artist whose greatest gift was the ability to perceive the intrinsic beauty in the most mundane objects, and to transform those visual experiences and memories into crafted oil paintings and watercolours, many of which have been exhibited throughout Europe and the Americas. Additionally he was a gifted teacher, world-traveller, proficient linguist and experienced cyclist.

As a young boy, growing up in Beckenham (Kent, UK) he was surrounded by music, literature and art; but art was his real interest. Although his father, Arthur, warned him 'Be an artist, but realise you may always be poor'; this father's advice did not deter Robert in the slightest.

After studying at the Beckenham School of Art (1940-1942) and the Royal College of Art (1942-1945), he was awarded the Herbert Baker Travel Scholarship to Florence, Italy.

After studying in Florence, Robert began his teaching career at the Leeds College of Art in 1947. As a teacher, Robert always found time to encourage his pupils as well as other contemporary painters. One of his former pupils, Alexander MacDonald, now a London artist, wrote in June 2002, 'You know how fond I was of him, he was a true friend.....My mentor, and a brilliant artist. Oh! How much I learnt from him'. Andrew Copeland, another former student, now working as an artist in Canada, said, 'He captured us all'.

[Page last updated: 17th January 2021]

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