Peter Brannan
Peter Brannan was born in 1926 in Nottinghamshire, throughout his life he remained living within the district, settling in towns such as Newark and Lincoln. He was from an artistic family (his brother Noel was also recognised as an established artist), and studied at Grimsby School of Art, where he began to collect antiques, encouraged by the Principal, A.E Wade. He then went on to attend Leicester College of Art (1951-52). Alongside his studies he also continued his National Service; firstly at the coal mines in Sheffield, thought to be where the first seeds were sown for his interest in mining and industrial pictures. The next two years in the Royal Army Medical Corps took him to Farnham, close to the London Art Galleries where he would later display his work.
Peter exhibited at the Royal Academy, New English Art Club, and at the Royal Society of British Artists, to which body he was elected in 1960, he was also a member of the New English Art Club. Brannan had a number of one man exhibitions at the Trafford Gallery in Mount Street , London W1 in 1960. At this particular exhibiton Edward Newton bought one of his paintings for someone else, he said of Peter �he was to Newark what Utrillo had been to Montmatre and, like Boudin, watched the grey-green sea lashed by cold winds under a grey sky�. A retrospective of his work was also held at the Goldmark Gallery. In June 1962 Peter gained a commission to paint at Capesthorne hall, the seat of Sir Bromley-Davenport, and spent two days there as his guest.
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Peter has often been described as a �well loved man� but very private, as far as sales went he was extremely successful but was continuously reluctant to move into the limelight, to attend openings and meet his patrons. He wrote little concerning his own work but was often a contributor to magazine articles on fellow artists. He never married and remained a bachelor with no children , however his wide circle of friends in the art world ensured he was never lonely.
Peter died on the 1st December 1994, leaving behind him a great many paintings which have since been very successful in Auctions.