Biographies

Gerald Brockhurst (1890 – 1978)

The following information comes from the Web site of World Wide Art Resources: Gerald L. Brockhurst studied at the Birmingham School of Art and then the Royal Academy Schools in London. In 1913, he received the Gold Medal and Traveling Scholarship that enabled him to visit Paris and Italy to study the work of early Italian painters, notably Piero della Francesca and Leonardo da Vinci. Brockhurst lived in Ireland from 1915 to 1919 where he was influenced by the simplicity of color and form in the work of Augustus John. Brockhurst then returned to London, holding his first significant exhibition in 1919. Afterward, he turned to etching, most often producing female portraits inspired by his wife. His style at this time was very classical and executed with precise technical accuracy. In 1930, Brockhurst began painting again, using teenage model and future wife, Dorette Woodard as his subject. He became a fashionable portrait painter with famous sitters such as J. Paul Getty, Marlene Dietrich, and the Duchess of Windsor. Brockhurst lived the rest of his life in the United States having settled there in 1939.