Sir Claude Francis Barry: a British master painter in Bordighera

October 3, 2022October 3, 2022

New research shows the strong connections between Barry and Bordighera in the period 1920 to 1960.

By Marcus Bicknell, October 2022

English version below the Italian

Punti chiave:

Claude Francis Barry (1883-1970) realizzò almeno 40 immagini di Bordighera e dintorni (15-20% della sua produzione totale), un fatto che non sembra essere noto né agli studiosi dell’artista e forse non ai cognoscenti di Bordighera.
Francis Barry, come gli piaceva essere chiamato, trascorse mesi se non anni a Bordighera in casa di suo cugino Edward Berry.
Se qualcuno del talento artistico di Barry fosse ereditario, allora parte di esso sarebbe disceso da Clarence Bicknell, Lucinda Browne e Phiz attraverso sua madre Kathleen Bicknell, ancora, un aspetto che non è stato notato da coloro che hanno scritto su Barry.

Ho potuto dare seguito alle informazioni fornite da mio zio Peter Bicknell, mio zio, che scrisse intorno al 1980 “Barry, (non Berry), il figlio della sorella di Clarence, un artista di talento, venne a Bordighera soffrendo di “consumazione galoppante” , e visse per ereditare il baronetto di suo padre e passarlo a suo figlio Sir Rupert Barry. Per una felice coincidenza, Mari Henderson (ora mia moglie Mari Bicknell) da bambina, molto prima che conoscesse Bicknells, ha imparato a disegnare da Barry quando la sua famiglia ha trascorso alcuni mesi a Villa Monte Verde di Berry (non Barry).

Si prega di leggere di più nel mio articolo completo su https://clarencebicknell.com/sir-claude-francis-barry-a-british-master-painter-in-bordighera/ e
https://clarencebicknell.com/wp-content/uploads/francis_barry_bordighera_bicknell_oct2022.pdf in inglese per il momento a meno che non ci sia una domanda significativa!

Key points

Claude Francis Barry (1883-1970) made at least 40 images of Bordighera and surrounds (15-20% of his total output), a fact which appears to be known neither to students of the artist nor to the cognoscenti of Bordighera.
Francis Barry, as he liked to be known, spent months if not years in Bordighera in the house of his cousin Edward Berry.
If any of Barry’s artistic talent were hereditary, then some of it would have come down from Clarence Bicknell, Lucinda Browne and Phiz through his mother Kathleen Bicknell, again, an aspect which has not been noticed by those who have written on Barry. I have been able to follow up on the information given by my uncle Peter Bicknell, my uncle, who wrote in about 1980 “Barry, (not Berry), Clarence’s sister’s son, a talented artist, came to Bordighera suffering from “galloping consumption”, and lived to inherit his father’s baronetcy and pass it on to his son Sir Rupert Barry. By a happy coincidence Mari Henderson (now my wife Mari Bicknell) as a child, long before she knew any Bicknells, was taught drawing by Barry when her family spent some months in the Berry’s (not Barry’s) Villa Monte Verde.”
Barry provided the aquatint illustrations for the 1931 publication by Edward and Margaret Berry, At the Western Gate of Italy.

Complete paper at https://clarencebicknell.com/wp-content/uploads/francis_barry_bordighera_bicknell_oct2022.pdf

I have been able to follow up on the information given by my uncle Peter Bicknell, my uncle, who wrote in about 1980 “Barry, (not Berry), Clarence’s sister’s son, a talented artist, came to Bordighera suffering from “galloping consumption”, and lived to inherit his father’s baronetcy and pass it on to his son Sir Rupert Barry. By a happy coincidence Mari Henderson (now my wife Mari Bicknell) as a child, long before she knew any Bicknells, was taught drawing by Barry when her family spent some months in the Berry’s (not Barry’s) Villa Monte Verde.”

And is it possible that the inimitable Margaret Berry wanted to keep quiet about the 30-something-year-old host guest who painted nudes on the beach?

The list of Barry’s Bordighera pictures is here in Excel form… https://clarencebicknell.com/wp-content/uploads/francis_barry_pictures_bordighera_oct2022.xlsx