Graham Arnold 1932 - 2019

We are very sad to announce the death of Graham Arnold who passed away last week at the age of 87.

Graham Arnold was born in London in 1932 and attended Beckenham School of Art and the Royal College of Art. Graham, along with his wife and fellow artist Ann Arnold, was a founder member of the Brotherhood of Ruralists, with Peter Blake, David Inshaw, Jann Haworth, Graham Ovenden and Annie Ovenden.

They exhibited together until 1983 when the group started to fragment. Graham and Ann, together with Annie Ovenden continued to exhibit together at Catto Gallery until Ann died in 2015.

Graham’s work contains a combination of realistic and surrealist elements. Subjects often include still life and landscape. Themes such as Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland and Ophelia inspired his work and that of the Brotherhood as a whole.

Graham’s paintings are held in a number of public collections, including the Royal Academy of Arts, V&A Museum and the British Museum.

We went to visit Graham and Ann in Shropshire to discuss their exhibition here in 2015. He was a humble and quiet man with great integrity and will be very sadly missed.