On painting.

  • Charnley, Bryan, 1949-1991
Date:
[1987]
Reference:
3049676i
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view On painting.

Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

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Credit

On painting. Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0). Source: Wellcome Collection.

Online resources

  • Related materials at Wellcome Library See the related archive PP/BCH: View resource

About this work

Description

Two hands reaching out of a landscape, one holding a paintbrush. A river meanders between them towards a house.

Publication/Creation

[1987]

Physical description

1 painting : oil on canvas ; 40.7 x 50.7 cm

Contributors

Biographical note

Bryan Charnley (1949-1991) was a British artist whose work illustrates his experiences of schizophrenia. In 1969 he enrolled on a BA in sculpture at the Central School of Art and Design, but left due to a breakdown. He started painting in 1978, and from the late 1980s he began to get recognition for his work, with Bethlem Royal Hospital purchasing four of his paintings. From 1987 to his death he kept a dream diary as a way of understanding his own mind. In March 1991 he decided to experiment with his medication and embarked on a series of self-portraits, a series which exposed his mental illness. The series was exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery, London, in 1995. He took his own life in July 1991.

Notes

Title provided by the Estate of Bryan Charnley.
Signed BJC in bottom right corner of recto.

Reference

Bryan Charnley. 1987. On painting. [Oil on canvas]. Wellcome Collection 3049676i

Ownership note

Purchased by Wellcome Collection in 2018 from the Estate of Bryan Charnley.

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