Artist Information
Artist
Fred Bottomley (1883-1960)Role
PainterDate made
n.d.Time Period
20th CenturyNotes
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
Raised in Cornwall and Lancashire, England, Fred Bottomley was an English artist, a painter of landscape and topography. From school he followed his father into the cotton business, but at the outset of World War I he joined the Forces, spending three years in France. After the Armistice he decided to devote his life to art, and studied at London's Slade School of Fine Art from 1923 to 1925. He worked in Cornwall from Porthmeor and Dragon Studios. Bottomley exhibited at the Royal Academy between 1931 and 1944, the St. Ives Art Club and the Royal Society of Artists Birmingham. During WWII he seems to have moved back to Southport in Merseyside for a couple of years, returning permanently in 1952.
Of note: Porthmeor is perhaps the oldest working artists’ studio complex in the country, as well as having the most illustrious artist occupants, such as Francis Bacon. Artists started using Porthmeor around 1885. Today there are 19 studios, of which 15 are used by artists, two for the St. Ives School of Painting, and two for the managing Trust.