Bonar Dunlop

John Bonar Dunlop ARBS (1916–1992) was a New Zealand artist, sculptor, and illustrator. Some of his sculptures are of New Zealand and Welsh rugby players.[1]

Born in Dunedin, he grew up on the family farm. After the death of his father in his teens, the family moved to Europe, settling in Vienna in the 1930s. Dunlop studied art in Vienna, Paris, London (Royal Academy Schools) and Stockholm. He volunteered to serve in Finland's 'Winter War' in 1939 then, while trapped by World War II in Scandinavia, attended art school in Stockholm. After escaping via the Arctic Circle, he regained Britain and joined the RAF in North Africa. In 1946 he moved to Sydney to join some of his family. In 1948 he married his teenage sweetheart from Vienna, Hilary Napier, an English dancer, and began a successful career as an illustrator.[2][3] Until 1958-9 they lived in an extraordinary house in Whale Beach, and had two children. He was the subject of Arthur Murch's portrait, which won the 1949 Archibald Prize.[4] In 1959 the family moved definitively to London where Dunlop thrived further as an illustrator, contributing to numerous advertising campaigns (Harrods, Rothmans, Lee Cooper etc.).[2]

In the 1960s he provided new covers and internal illustrations for Ruby Ferguson's "Jill" books - Jill's Gymkhana, Jill's Riding Club, A Stable for Jill - and later the paperback versions of the books.[2][5]

Although his primary career was as an illustrator, his real passion was for sculpture, and in the early 1970s he became a full-time sculptor, creating sporting pieces, primarily of rugby players. His first one-man show was in London in 1975, and he subsequently exhibited at the Academy of Fine Arts in Wellington and in Dunedin. Other shows followed in Edinburgh and Wales and he was commissioned to do numerous portraits of sports personalities.[1][2][6] After living in north London, Dunlop and his wife spent the latter part of their lives between a house in Mojácar, Spain, and Sussex, where he died.

References

  1. 1 2 Duncan Mills (28 September 2004). "Art for rugby's sake". NZ News UK.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Bonar Dunlop (1916–1992), www.janebadgerbooks.co.uk
  3. ↑ $3 million plus for a rock cabin, www.domain.com.au
    1954: A two-bedroom, two-bathroom, Max Collard-designed beach house added to site. The wooden extension was built on to the top floor of the tower by former owners Hilary and John Bonar Dunlop, adding a bathroom, kitchen and living room to the property for the first time.
  4. ↑ Winner: Archibald Prize 1949, Art Gallery of NSW. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
  5. ↑ Bonar Dunlop and the Piebald Question, 15 March 2013, booksandmud.blogspot.com.au
  6. ↑ Statue of Gareth Edwards, Public Monuments & Sculpture Association, www.pmsa.org.uk
    Photos of the statue of Gareth Edwards, www.immortalsofbritishsport.com
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