Val Archer

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Val Archer (born 1946) is a British oil painter and teacher who is known for her meticulously composed still life paintings.

Biography[edit]

Archer was born in Northampton where her father was an engineer and her mother was a bookbinder.[1] Archer attended Saturday morning art classes taught by Henry Bird at the Northampton School for Art. She studied at the Manchester School of Art from 1964 until 1968 when she entered the Royal College of Art, RCA.[2] At the RCA Archer won the Anstruther Prize for painting in 1970 before graduating the following year.[2] After graduating, Archer undertook several commercial commissions and also held a number of visiting lectureships throughout her career. Her teaching included courses at the Crawford School of Art in Cork and at Cardiff College of Art.[2] She also spent time teaching at the art schools in Chelsea, at Goldsmiths' College, Sheffield and Wolverhampton.[3] Archer's commercial work included a 1982 poster design for British Rail and designs for the BBC Good Food magazine in the early 1990s.[2]

In 1989 Archer had a solo exhibition of flower paintings at the Noortman Gallery in Maastricht.[3] She also had an exhibition in Germany.[2] Archer illustrated and published two books on fruit and flowers, A Basket of Berries in 1992 and A Basket of Apples the following year.[2][4] Since 1998 Archer has been represented by the Chris Beetles Gallery in London.[5] In 2006 Archer co-wrote an illustrated travel and food book about Italy called The Painter, the Cook and the Art of Cucina with Anna Del Conte.[6]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Prue Leith & John McEwen (5 May 2016). "My favourite painting". Country Life. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
  2. ^ a b c d e f David Buckman (2006). Artists in Britain Since 1945 Vol 1, A to L. Art Dictionaries Ltd. ISBN 0-953260-95-X.
  3. ^ a b Frances Spalding (1990). 20th Century Painters and Sculptors. Antique Collectors' Club. ISBN 1-85149-106-6.
  4. ^ Val Archer (1993). A basket of berries: recipes and paintings from a fruit garden (1st American ed.). New York: Harmony Books. ISBN 0-517-59274-6. OCLC 27382072.
  5. ^ "The Turn of Women Artists 1837-2018: Archer, Val (Born 1946)". Chris Beetles Gallery. 2018. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  6. ^ Del Conte, Anna. (July 2006). The painter, the cook and the art of Cucina. Archer, Val., Hildebrand, Caz,, Martin, Julie. London. ISBN 978-1-84091-495-5. OCLC 159678536.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

External links[edit]