SHARP, Paul Spencer

1921 - 1998

Paul Spencer Sharp was born at Sowerby Bridge, Halifax, West Yorkshire on 7 June 1921, son of Arnold Haigh Sharp (18 February 1891-14 November 1956), sculptor and art teacher, and his wife Mary Alice née Spencer (2 February 1892-), who married at Camberwell, London in 1917. In 1939 Paul was an art student living at Marlborough Street, Ossett, Yorkshire with his parents. After serving in the Royal Air Force, he studied at the Royal College of Art 1946-1949, obtaining an ARCA Diploma, and began teaching at Farnham College of Art, finally as Head of the Department of Design. He exhibited a series of lithographs at the Royal Academy 1956-1961. He left teaching in 1960 and became a full-time graphic designer at Westerham Press pioneering in the field of graphic design combining the elements of typography, illustration and commercial art where his reputation as a gifted watercolour illustrator, artist and printmaker grew and he provided work for clients as diverse as the Paul Mellon Foundation, the National Gallery, the British Road Foundation, Sotheby’s, Taylor Woodrow, Royal Doulton, the Mermaid Theatre and the Science Museum. He carried the British tradition of watercolour, illustration and formal design, in which every detail was meticulously and precisely planned on paper, into the modern world of desktop publishing. Not strictly a Suffolk artist, he illustrated the book 'Sailing Tours Essex and Suffolk' edited by Sir Hugh Casson. Paul Spencer Sharp died in Hampshire on 5 June 1998.

Royal Academy Exhibits
from 104 West Street, Farnham
1956 917 Herring Boats in Harbour - lithograph
1957 1055 The "Discovery" - lithograph
         1066 Loading "Magga Dan" - lithograph
from Grayne Cottage, Heath Lane, Upper Hale, Farnham
1959 1052 Puffing Billy - lithograph
1960 1079 Portsmouth Point - lithograph
1961 971 Wastwater - lithograph
         1139 Wasdale, Cumberland - lithograph

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Works by This Artist