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Brenda Bury

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Brenda Bury
Born1932
Brierley near Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England
EducationBarnsley High School
Alma materUniversity of Reading
Styleportrait artist
SpouseJohn Polanyi
Websitewww.brendabury.com

Brenda Bury (born 1932)[1] is an English professional portrait artist who lives in Canada. She has painted members of the British Royal Family, the aristocracy, and politicians in the British and Canadian governments.[2]

Early life and education

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Bury was born in Brierley near Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England in 1932.[3][4]

When she was seven years old she won a National Savings painting competition and, at 12, won a youth club painting competition.[5] She attended Barnsley High School.[6]

Bury later studied Fine Art at the University of Reading with J. Anthony Betts,[7] where she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts. As a student, she was given brushes originally owned by James McNeill Whistler by a University of Reading Professor.[3]

Career

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Bury's work is influenced by historic portraiture painters, such as Anthony Van Dyck, Joshua Reynolds and John Singer Sargeant.[8]

Bury has painted many notable subjects of Great Britain and Canada including Queen Elizabeth II, Margaret Thatcher, John Diefenbaker,[9] Tony Benn, Quintin Hogg,[6] Agnes Benidickson, Guy Charbonneau, Sterling Lyon, Cecil Madden, Lord Mountbatten, Maurice Duplessis, Charles Polanyi, Jeanne Sauvé,[10] Sally Ann Howells and John Napier Turner.[8]

Her portrait of Kenneth Peacock Tynan is held in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery, London.[11] Her portrait of Alfred Edward McVie, when he was Mayor of Barnsley in the 1950s, and his wife is held in the collection of the Barnsley Museums.[4]

In 1991, Bury held her first public painting performance, completing a painting of Arlene Perly Rae and her eldest daughter Judith.[12]

Personal life

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Bury is married to Nobel Prize-winning Canadian chemist John Polanyi.[5] She moved to Canada in the 1980s and they are based in Toronto.[13][10]

References

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  1. ^ "Brenda Bury". MutualArt. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  2. ^ "Art Collection". Trent University Library. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  3. ^ a b Newlands, Anne and Parker, Judith. A Dictionary of Canadian Artists, volumes 1–8 by Colin S. MacDonald, and volume 9 (online ed). National Gallery of Canada / Musée des beaux-arts du Canada
  4. ^ a b "Art detectives find painting the work of Barnsley-born artist". We Are Barnsley. 2 March 2022. Retrieved 8 April 2025.
  5. ^ a b "Brierley Village web site – Old newspaper cuttings from Brierley and the surrounding area – She paints her way to the Royal Academy – Brenda Bury – - Local newspaper April 30 1956". brierleyvillage.co.uk. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
  6. ^ a b Dunn, Keiron (15 August 2024). Lost Barnsley. Amberley Publishing Limited. ISBN 978-1-3981-1508-8.
  7. ^ "Wonderful World of Women – Collections – Art Collections". University of Reading. Archived from the original on 11 November 2024. Retrieved 8 April 2025.
  8. ^ a b "O-1283 • painting (portrait) • The Right Honourable John Napier Turner". Parliament of Canada. Retrieved 9 April 2025.
  9. ^ Bryant, Nolan. "Picture perfect: Why you should gift your loved one with a society portrait". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  10. ^ a b Holmes, Gillian (1 June 1999). Who's Who of Canadian Women, 1999–2000. University of Toronto Press. p. 1980. ISBN 978-0-920966-55-6.
  11. ^ "Kenneth Peacock Tynan". National Portrait Gallery. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  12. ^ "Building an image: Portrait artist Brenda Bury works on her first public 'performance', painting of Arlene Perly Rae and her eldest daughter, Judith, 9". digitalarchive.tpl.ca. Retrieved 8 April 2025.
  13. ^ "ULAN Full Record Display (Getty Research)". www.getty.edu. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
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