Hugh Boycott Brown RSMA British, 1909-1990

It was his father, watercolourist Allan Robert Brown — who was himself the art master at the Royal Masonic School — who taught Hugh Boycott Brown to paint. Coming from an artistic family, Boycott Brown was educated at the Margaret Frobisher School in Bushey and attended evening classes at the Watford School of Art. He studied under Frederick Whiting and Bernard Adams at the Heatherley School of Art.

 

Teaching at the Royal Masonic School from 1929, Boycott Brown spent much of his time painting in East Anglia becoming friends with two artists who were to greatly influence his work: David Birch and Sir John Arnesby Brown.  He worked as an intelligence officer during the Second World War, in India, South Africa, Burma and Northern Ireland.  He returned to teaching after the war and bought a cottage at Blakeney so he could continue to paint the Norfolk coast in his spare time.  Indeed, the coastal waters of Suffolk and Norfolk and his dramatic skies became hallmarks of his work.  Boycott Brown eventually retired in 1970 and continued to paint up until his death in 1990.

 

Preferring to paint in the open air, Boycott Brown captured sudden changes of light and colour and often used old sailing barges and craft as points of interest.  He found cloud formations fascinating and kept detailed charts linking prevailing winds to cloud forms.  Whilst he was heavily influenced by Constable and Boudin, his direct, spontaneous style owes much to the impressionists.

 

Exhibitions

Hugh Boycott Brown exhibited at all of the major London galleries, including:

Royal Academy
Royal Society of British Artists
Royal Institute of Painters in Oils
Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours

 

Boycott Brown also gave solo exhibitions at Belgrave Gallery, London, and in many galleries across East Anglia and in the USA. Abbott and Holder presented a memorial exhibition in his honour in 1991.