Sydney Bunney (1877-1928)
For today’s Memory Monday I wanted to share some works from a little-known Coventry artist, Sydney Bunney. Not a great deal is known about his life and he appears to have been a modest man, spending much of his working life as cashier at the Auto Machinery Company Limited on Read Street, Coventry (a company established by William Hillman in 1887, which pioneered the mass production in Britain of ball and roller bearings). However, the age of 15, he had begun study at the Coventry School of Art (established 1843), later spending some time (1906-7) as the Secretary of the Sketch Club there. It is unclear when he completed his studies, but he remained a member of the Sketch Club until 1916.
He trained under John Anderson, followed by William Henry Milnes. Milnes emphasised the capacity of Coventry’s buildings to capture the effect of light. In one lecture, he described to the students how they might emulate a great master, Turner, in “making notes, as it were, quick sketches of certain things under varying conditions, and thereby gaining a better knowledge of nature in all her various moods”. Sydney Bunney appears to have taken this advice to heart, producing over 500 miniature watercolours of Coventry, including Impressionist – style landscapes, which were purchased by the Herbert Art Gallery from his family in April 1964. These paintings were done in middle age, so clearly he did not abandon his love of painting even though finances and family expectation might have been the reason why he took more regular employment.
I hope you will enjoy this small glimpse into the art of Sydney Bunney. I particularly love the way he captures atmosphere his paintings of Coventry’s old Medieval and Georgian buildings and his eye for architectural detail.
Sources:
Sydney Bunney’s Coventry: Impressions of a Graceful City (Produced by Coventry Museums & Galleries, Coventry Evening Telegraph, City of Coventry Leisure Services, 2000). A lovely book, if you come across a copy.
Grace’s Guide to British Industrial History www.gracesguide.co.uk
Images:
St. Michael’s Church, South Door, 1918.
The Tower, St. Mary’s Hall, Coventry, 1918.
Spouthead on building, corner of Broadgate & Trinity churchyard, 1924.
The Charterhouse, Coventry, 1921.
Rood Lane, Coventry, 1921.
Catholic Church, Hearsall Common, 1926.
Priory Row, Coventry, 1916.
High Street, Coventry, 1922.
(All images reproduced with kind permission of the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum)
