# Bryan Kneale

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{{Short description|Manx artist and sculptor (1930–2025)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2025}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2025}}

{{Infobox artist
| image            = Bryan Kneale.jpeg
| caption          = Kneale in 2025
| birth_name       = Robert Bryan Charles Kneale
| honorific_suffix = {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|MBE|RA}}
| birth_date       = {{birthdate|1930|6|19|df=y}}
| birth_place      = [Douglas](/source/Douglas%2C_Isle_of_Man), Isle of Man
| death_date       = {{death date and age|2025|9|19|1930|6|19|df=y}}
| alma_mater       = [Douglas School of Art](/source/Douglas_School_of_Art)<br/>[Royal Academy schools](/source/Royal_Academy_schools)
| name             = Bryan Kneale
| elected          = [Royal Academy of Arts](/source/Royal_Academy_of_Arts) (1970–2025)
| relatives        = [Nigel Kneale](/source/Nigel_Kneale) (brother)<br>[Matthew Kneale](/source/Matthew_Kneale) (nephew)<br>{{Ill|Tacy Kneale|de}} (niece)<br>[Judith Kerr](/source/Judith_Kerr)<br>(sister-in-law)
}}

'''Robert''' '''Bryan Charles Kneale''' {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|MBE|RA}} (19 June 1930 – 19 September 2025) was a Manx artist and sculptor, described by [BBC News Online](/source/BBC_News_Online) as "one of the [Isle of Man](/source/Isle_of_Man)'s best known artists."<ref name="bbc">{{cite web|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/isle_of_man/4439116.stm|title=Sculptor supports island museum|publisher=[BBC News Online](/source/BBC_News_Online)|date=15 November 2005|access-date=2007-02-11}}</ref>

==Life and career==
Born in the island's capital, [Douglas](/source/Douglas%2C_Isle_of_Man), on 19 June 1930,<ref name="sculpture">{{cite web|url=http://www.sculpture.org.uk/artist/51/bryan-kneale|title=Bryan Kneale|publisher=sculpture.org.uk|accessdate=2007-02-11|url-status = dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121124000853/http://www.sculpture.org.uk/artist/51/bryan-kneale|archivedate=24 November 2012}}</ref><ref name="rwa">{{cite web|url=http://www.rwa.org.uk/rwa-artists/academicians-listings/k/kneale-prof-bryan-ra-rwa/|title=Bryan Kneale|publisher=[Royal West of England Academy](/source/Royal_West_of_England_Academy)|accessdate=2007-02-11|url-status = dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131220152813/http://www.rwa.org.uk/rwa-artists/academicians-listings/k/kneale-prof-bryan-ra-rwa/|archivedate=20 December 2013}}</ref> Kneale studied painting at the [Douglas School of Art](/source/Douglas_School_of_Art), from which he graduated in 1947, and then moved to London, to study at the [Royal Academy Schools](/source/Royal_Academy_schools).<ref name="ra">{{cite web |title=Bryan Kneale RA |url=https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/artist/bryan-kneale-ra |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150416185006/https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/artist/bryan-kneale-ra |archive-date=16 April 2015 |accessdate=11 February 2007 |publisher=[Royal Academy](/source/Royal_Academy)}}</ref> In 1948, he won the [Rome Prize](/source/Rome_Prize) and spent some time living in Italy.<ref name="sculpture"/> During the 1950s, he learned [welding](/source/welding), and in 1960 took to sculpture in preference to painting and became a teacher.<ref name="sculpture"/>

Kneale taught at [Hornsey College of Art and Design](/source/Hornsey_College_of_Art), and from 1963 until his retirement from teaching in 1995 he taught sculpture at the [Royal College of Art](/source/Royal_College_of_Art).<ref name="ra"/> He was also Master and later Professor of Sculpture at the [Royal Academy](/source/Royal_Academy_of_Arts) between 1982 and 1990.<ref name="rwa"/> In addition to his teaching, numerous exhibitions of his own painting and sculpture work have been held since 1953,<ref name="sculpture"/> and his works are displayed in countries such as Australia, Brazil, England, New Zealand and the United States.<ref name="sculpture"/> In the U.S., the [Museum of Modern Art](/source/Museum_of_Modern_Art) in New York City includes examples of his work amongst its public collections<ref name="rwa"/> and in England his work is displayed at [Manchester Art Gallery](/source/Manchester_Art_Gallery).<ref name="ra" />

He was awarded a [Leverhulme Trust](/source/Leverhulme_Trust) Prize in 1952, as well as the ''[Daily Express](/source/Daily_Express)'' Young Painters' Prize (1955) and an [Arts Council](/source/Arts_Council_of_Great_Britain) Purchase Award (1969).<ref name="ra"/> After a successful solo show at the [Whitechapel Gallery](/source/Whitechapel_Gallery) in 1966, Kneale became the first abstract sculptor to be elected a Royal Academician in 1974. He accepted the honour only on the condition that he be allowed to curate a show of contemporary sculpture which resulted in a groundbreaking survey of some of the period's most exciting sculptors.{{cn|date=September 2025}}

Kneale was the younger brother of the screenwriter [Nigel Kneale](/source/Nigel_Kneale) (1922–2006),<ref name="murray">{{cite book |last=Murray |first=Andy |title=Into the Unknown: The Fantastic Life of Nigel Kneale |publisher=Headpress |year=2006 |isbn=1-900486-50-4 |location=[London](/source/London) |type=paperback}}</ref> best known for his ''[Quatermass](/source/Bernard_Quatermass)'' television serials. Kneale illustrated the covers for [Penguin Books](/source/Penguin_Books)' releases of his elder brother's ''Quatermass'' scripts in 1960.<ref name="pixley">{{cite book | last=Pixley| first=Andrew | title=The Quatermass Collection – Viewing Notes | year=2005 |type=paperback|location=[London](/source/London)|publisher=[BBC Worldwide](/source/BBC_Worldwide) |id=BBCDVD1478}}</ref> He was also responsible for a painting of a [lobster](/source/lobster) from which [BBC](/source/BBC) [special effect](/source/special_effect)s designers Bernard Wilkie and Jack Kine drew their inspiration for the [Martian](/source/Martian) creatures they constructed for ''[Quatermass and the Pit](/source/Quatermass_and_the_Pit)'' (1958&ndash;59).<ref name="demons">{{cite video|people=Jack Kine and Bernard Wilkie|year=2005|title=Making Demons|type=[DVD](/source/DVD) documentary using archive interview material. Extra feature on ''The Quatermass Collection'' set|publisher=[BBC Worldwide](/source/BBC_Worldwide)}}</ref>

For his sculpture ''Capt Quilliam'', he received the 2007 [Marsh Award for Excellence in Public Sculpture](/source/Marsh_Award_for_Excellence_in_Public_Sculpture).<ref name="MCT">{{cite web |title=Marsh Award for Excellence in Public Sculpture |url=https://www.marshchristiantrust.org/award/marsh-award-for-excellence-in-public-sculpture/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190402135402/https://www.marshchristiantrust.org/award/marsh-award-for-excellence-in-public-sculpture/ |url-status=usurped |archive-date=2 April 2019 |publisher=Marsh Christian Trust |accessdate=2 April 2019}}</ref> He was appointed a [Member of the Order of the British Empire](/source/Member_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire) (MBE) in the [2019 New Year Honours](/source/2019_New_Year_Honours), for services to British Art.<ref>{{London Gazette |date=29 December 2018 |supp=y |issue=62507|pages=N19}}</ref><ref name="ra"/>

Kneale died on 19 September 2025, at the age of 95.<ref>{{Cite web |date=19 September 2025 |title=Acclaimed Manx sculptor Bryan Kneale dies |url=https://motorsport.manxradio.com/news/isle-of-man-news/acclaimed-manx-sculptor-bryan-kneale-dies/ |access-date=19 September 2025 |website=[Manx Radio Motorsport](/source/Manx_Radio)}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Darwent |first=Charles |date=29 September 2025 |title=Bryan Kneale obituary |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2025/sep/29/bryan-kneale-obituary |access-date=29 September 2025 |work=The Guardian}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Bryan Kneale}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070930201218/http://www.gov.im/lib/news/mnh/anewlimitedediti.xml Bryan Kneale] at the [Isle of Man Government](/source/Tynwald).
* {{Art UK bio}}
* [http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/kneale_bryan.html Bryan Kneale] at [http://www.artcyclopedia.com/ ArtCyclopedia.com].
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090302094245/http://www.hartgallery.co.uk/artists/kneale/index.htm Bryan Kneale] at hartgallery.co.uk (The London-based Hart Gallery was closed down sometime time after 2012)
* {{imdb name|11428915}}
* {{discogs artist|Bryan Kneale}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kneale, Bryan}}
Category:1930 births
Category:2025 deaths
Category:Academics of the Royal College of Art
Category:Manx sculptors
Category:Manx artists
Category:Members of the Royal West of England Academy
Category:People from Douglas, Isle of Man
Category:Royal Academicians
Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire
Category:Alumni of University College Isle of Man

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Bryan Kneale](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryan_Kneale) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryan_Kneale?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.