Bernard Dunstan RA
British artist known for his contributions to the tradition of intimate figure subjects and landscapes in paint and pastel. His artistic education began at Colet Court, the preparatory school for St. Paul’s. With the outbreak of World War II in 1939, Dunstan pursued his art education at the Byam Shaw School of Art, studying under Ernest Jackson. Later in the same year, he attended the Slade School of Fine Art, which had been evacuated to Oxford. There, he studied under Allan Gwynne-Jones, among others. During the war, Dunstan joined the Royal Observer Corps in 1941, where he contributed to mapping flight movements and bombing raids in Oxford. Dunstan's artistic style was influenced by the traditions of artists such as Degas, Sickert, and Vuillard. He gained recognition for his intimate figure subjects and landscapes, which he began exhibiting at the Royal Academy from 1945 and became a member of the New English Art Club in 1946. Both the Royal Academy and the New English Art Club played significant roles in his professional life. In 1946, Dunstan relocated to Bristol to take up a teaching position at the Schools of the Royal West of England Academy (RWA). By the end of the 1940s, he was elected to RWA membership and later served as its President from 1979 to 1984.
In 1949, he married Diana Armfield, whom he had met during his time at the Slade School of Fine Art, and they moved to Belsize Park, London. They later settled in Kew and had three sons. Dunstan's contributions to the art world were widely recognised. He became an Associate of the Royal Academy in 1959 and a full Royal Academician in 1968. He continued to exhibit at the Royal Academy until his passing.