John Barnicoat

Two figures

John Barnicoat was a painter of oils and works on paper using tempera, conté, acrylic, pen, and ink. He was brought up in Cornwall and educated at King’s College, Taunton. He joined the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserves and took part in D-Day, aged 29. He went on to read history at Lincoln College, Oxford, and also studied at the Ruskin School of Drawing. He attended the Royal College of Art in the early 1950s, eventually becoming the Senior Tutor at the RCA Painting School between 1976 and 1980. He was the head of Falmouth School of Art 1972 – 1976 and Head of the Chelsea School of Art 1980 – 1989. He wrote ‘Posters: a Concise History’ in 1972, and organised and curated exhibitions in the UK and Russia on the art of poster design. From 1989 onwards he produced numerous drawings and oils of the bridges of London, women’s heads, acrylic and conté works on paper, and pen and wash drawings of women dressing. His work is represented in both government and private collections, and was recently shown at The Belgrave Gallery, St Ives (2017 – 2022).