FRENCH, Anthony

1941 - ?

Anthony French was born at Nottingham on 22 July 1941, son of John French and his wife Winifred Mary née Pearce, who married at Nottingham. Tony married at Thanet, Kent in 1963, Patricia A. Ellenor and they have one son Graham, born 1964. At the age of 15, Anthony joined the army, serving in the Royal Engineers, spending three years at the Army Apprentices College at Harrogate, Yorkshire where he learnt heraldry, signwriting, and associated trades. He gained his City and Guilds advanced certificate and after finishing his apprenticeship, and whilst he was on one of his army courses, he met artist Kenneth Denton (born 20 August 1932), who later became a Member of the Royal Society of Marine Artists and a former president of the East Anglian Group of Marine Artists, who coached Tony in painting. Tony was a trade instructor at the Royal School of Military Engineering and at the Junior Leaders Regiment during his 22 years' service. In 1967 Anthony became a founding member of the Medway Artists at Chatham, a group of seven artists with similar outlooks, exhibiting their work in and around Kent and he served as the resident curator of the Sir Alfred Munnings Art Museum in Dedham, Essex 1991-1996. He exhibited from Mill View Cottage, 4 Low Road, Friston, Saxmundham, Suffolk at the Ipswich Art Society in 1997, 'Knights Manor Dedham' and has exhibited at Pond Gallery Snape Maltings, Suffolk; Bibliotech Medieval Cite Domfront Normandie; Great Steeping Church Art and Craft Exhibition Lincolnshire; D’arcy Gallery in Ipswich, Suffolk; Francis Isles Gallery in Rochester, Kent and elsewhere. He and his wife spent 7 years in Normandy, with Tony painting most of the time, and in 2002 they moved to Lincolnshire and now live at the village of Firsby, Spilsby where he continues to paint. His paintings 'Friston, near Saxmundham' was sold at auction at Gaze of Diss in 2011 and his 'Mill on the Marsh' was sold at Keys Auctions at Aylsham, Norfolk.
Website: https://anthonyfrench.co.uk

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Works by This Artist