James Priddey

James Priddey, R.B.S.A., F.R.S.A., (1916 - 1980) was an English painter, printmaker, illustrator and member of the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists. [Waters, G. "Dictionary of British Artists Working 1900-1950"]

Life and Work

James Priddey was born at Handsworth, Birmingham in 1916. [Waters, G. "Dictionary of British Artists Working 1900-1950"] He studied at Moseley School of Arts and Crafts, and at Birmingham College of Art between 1931-35. [Waters, G. "Dictionary of British Artists Working 1900-1950"] Priddey exhibited widely including at the Royal Scottish Academy, Royal Society of British Artists, Royal Cambrian Academy, Royal West of England Academy, Society of Graphic Art, in the provinces and at the Paris Salon where he received a silver medal in 1949. [Waters, G. "Dictionary of British Artists Working 1900-1950"] He was elected as president to the Birmingham Watercolour Society in 1959 and a member to the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists in 1960, becoming the Society's Hon. Secretary in 1966. [Dolman, B. "Who's Who in Art" (1972)] Priddey lived and worked in Harborne, Birmingham with his wife Peggy. [Waters, G. "Dictionary of British Artists Working 1900-1950"] [Black Country Bugle July 17 2008]

Priddey had several styles, all unmistakably his own. He produced hundreds of black and white line illustrations for books and pamphlets, perhaps most notably for the 1973 publication Heart of England, a guide to the Midlands region which he illustrated throughout, with accompanying text by Louise Wright. Towns, villages, rural scenes and some fine Black Country landscapes filled its pages, while a watercolour, very different in style but equally beautiful, graced the dustjacket. [Black Country Bugle July 17 2008]

James Priddey died just before Christmas in 1980. [Black Country Bugle July 17 2008]

Exhibitions

In 1967 Priddey exhibited the etching "Cooling Towers, Salford Bridge" at the Royal Academy of Art in London. [Royal Academy Exhibitors 1905-1970, Vol V (EP Publishing LTD, 1979)]

Partial Bibliography

Illustrations for Books:
*Heart of England (1973) (Written by Louise Wright)
*Cotswold Heritage (1977) (Written by Louise Wright)

References