Brenda Chamberlain (artist)

Brenda Irene Chamberlain (17 March 1912 – 11 July 1971) was a Welsh artist, poet and writer. She won the first two Gold Medals awarded by the National Eisteddfod of Wales in the Fine Art category, for her paintings Girl with a Siamese Cat (1951) and The Cristin Children (1953), and her written works include Tide-race, a memoir of 15 years spent living on Bardsey Island. An expatriate on the island of Hydra, Greece, from 1961 to 1967, she then returned to Wales, where she died in 1971. Her papers are preserved by the National Library of Wales; examples of her artworks are found in several collections.

Brenda Irene Chamberlain
Self portrait, 1938
(National Museum Wales)
Born(1912-03-17)17 March 1912
Bangor, Wales
Died11 July 1971(1971-07-11) (aged 59)
Bangor, Wales
NationalityWelsh
Known forPainting, poetry
Spouse
​
(m. 1935⁠–⁠1944)​

Early life and education
Chamberlain on a boat transporting cattle, during a pilgrimage to Bardsey Island in 1950. Photograph by Geoff Charles.

Chamberlain was born in Bangor, the daughter of Francis Thomas Chamberlain and Elsie Cooil Chamberlain. Her father worked for the railway. Her mother served a term on the Bangor Borough Council, and was later Mayor of Bangor during World War II.[1]

In 1931, Chamberlain began her studies as an artist at the Royal Academy Schools in London.[2]

Ty'r Mynydd, Rachub, where Chamberlain lived with John Petts

Works

Chamberlain ran the Caseg Press in Bethesda, Wales, with her then-husband the artist John Petts, and the poet Alun Lewis.[3] The collective produced postcards and bookplates, for which Chamberlain made woodcuts. Caseg Broadsheets featured poetry by Chamberlain and others.[4][3][5] The cottage they shared, Ty'r Mynydd, bears a plaque commemorating their work.

Chamberlain also produced prose works, including Tide-Race (1962), a memoir of life at Carreg, Bardsey Island, where she lived and worked from 1947 until 1962.[6] The publication of Tide-Race coincided with a solo exhibition of Chamberlain's paintings at the Zwemmer Gallery in London.[7]

Chamberlain won the first two Gold Medals awarded by the National Eisteddfod of Wales for Fine Art, in 1951 for the painting Girl with a Siamese Cat and in 1953 for The Cristin Children.[8][7]

In 1961 Chamberlain went to live on the Greek island of Hydra, but returned to Wales in 1967. Her novel A Rope of Vines draws from her time in Hydra, while her play The Protagonists (published 2013, first performed 1968) details the 1967 right-wing coup which led to the Greek junta.

Legacy

There are artworks by Chamberlain in the National Museum Wales, National Library of Wales, Bangor University, Cyfarthfa Castle and Royal Holloway, University of London.[9] There is a collection of her papers, including sketches, letters, poems, photographs, diaries, and unpublished works, in the National Library of Wales.[10]

Kate Holman published an academic biography of Brenda Chamberlain in 1997.[11] Jill Piercy published another biography of Chamberlain in 2013.[1]

Personal life

Before the Second World War, Chamberlain moved in with the artist John Petts. They married in 1935, and in 1936 they moved to Rachub, a village near Bethesda. The cottage they shared, Ty'r Mynydd, bears a plaque commemorating their work.[12][13] The couple were divorced in 1944.

Chamberlain died in 1971, age 59, in Bangor, after an overdose of sedatives. Her remains were interred at Glanadda Cemetery in Bangor.[2]

Published works
  • The Green Heart (1958)
  • Tide-Race (1962) (ISBN 9780907476658)
  • The Water Castle (1964) (ISBN 978-1908069795)
  • A Rope of Vines (1965) (ISBN 9781905762866)
  • Poems with Drawings (1969) (ISBN 0901111066)

Further reading
  • Alun Lewis and the Making of the Caseg Broadsheets, 1969 (ISBN 9780901111074)
  • Kate Holman, Brenda Chamberlain, 1997 (ISBN 9780708310489)
  • Jill Piercy, Brenda Chamberlain, Artist & Writer, 2013 (ISBN 9781906998233)

References
  1. Jill Piercy, Brenda Chamberlain: Artist and Writer (Parthian Books 2013). ISBN 9781906998233
  2. "Brenda Chamberlain" Wales Arts, BBC Cymru Wales.
  3. Alison Smith, John Petts and the Caseg Press (Ashgate 1999). ISBN 9780754600343
  4. "Finding Aid – Brenda Chamberlain manuscripts (GB 0210 MSBREAIN)" (PDF). National Library of Wales. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  5. Adams, Linda (1999). "Fieldwork: The Caseg Broadsheets and the Welsh Anthropologist". Welsh Writing in English: A Yearbook of Critical Essays. 5: 51–85.
  6. "Brenda Chamberlain and Bardsey Island" Archived 5 May 2016 at the Wayback Machine, Bardsey Island Trust.
  7. Peter Lord (2000). The Visual Culture of Wales: Imaging a Nation. University of Wales Press, Cardiff. ISBN 0708315879.
  8. Gold Medal for Fine Art Archived 30 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine, The National Eisteddfod of Wales. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
  9. "Art UK | Discover Artworks". artuk.org.
  10. Brenda Chamberlain MSS, National Library of Wales.
  11. Kate Holman, Brenda Chamberlain (University of Chicago Press 1997). ISBN 9780708310489
  12. SH6268: Ty'r mynydd, Mountain Street, Rachub, Geograph.org.uk
  13. "Brenda Chamberlain – 1912-1971". Writers Plaques. Literature Wales. Archived from the original on 23 April 2017.
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