Norman Ackroyd

English aquatint artist (1938–2024)

Norman Ackroyd

CBE RA

Born| (1938-03-26)26 March 1938

Leeds, England

Died| 16 September 2024(2024-09-16) (aged 86)

Bermondsey, London, England

Education|

* Leeds College of Art (1956–61)
* Royal College of Art (1961–64)

Occupation| Artist
Known for|

* Etching
* Printmaking

Children| 4 inc. Poppy Ackroyd
Website| www.normanackroyd.com

Norman Ackroyd CBE RA (26 March 1938 – 16 September 2024) was an English visual artist known primarily for his etchings and work with aquatint. He lived and was based in Bermondsey, London.[1]

## Background

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Ackroyd was born on 26 March 1938 in Leeds, Yorkshire.[2] His father was Albert Ackroyd, a butcher, and his mother Clara Ackroyd (née Briggs) was a weaver.[3] He attended Cockburn High School, then Leeds College of Art from 1957 to 1961 and the Royal College of Art, London, from 1961 to 1964,[1] where he studied under Julian Trevelyan and met his future wife, the artist Sylvia Buckland, alongside David Hockney, Mary Quant and Zandra Rhodes.[3] Subsequently, he lived for several years in the United States. He was elected to the Royal Academy of Art in 1988[1] as an associate, then a Royal Academician in 1991, and appointed Professor of Etching, University of the Arts, in 1994. He was elected Senior Fellow of the Royal College of Art in 2000, and in the 2007 New Year Honours was made CBE for services to Engraving and Printing.[4]

## Work

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In the 1980s Ackroyd emerged as a landscape artist. Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design mounted a retrospective exhibition of these works in 2006 and kept an archive of his work. His works range from minimalist, nearly abstract impressions, to detailed images. His work almost never includes the human figure, the landscape subjects are often of old human habitation. His prints range from tiny etchings intended to be bound into books to huge etchings. His preferred medium for working directly on paper was watercolour, including a project pairing his watercolours with poems by Kevin Crossley-Holland published under the title Moored Man. He designed a number of large-scale, etched reliefs in steel or bronze commissioned for architectural projects in London, Cambridge, and Moscow.[5] Other completed projects include a mural at the Sainsbury Laboratory Cambridge University, showing scenes from the Galapagos, and a door at Great Portland Estates in London, W1.

In 2009, with poet Douglas Dunn, he published A Line in the Water.[6] Ackroyd's working methods are described in an issue of Archipelago (No. III, Spring 2009).

Ackroyd's work can be found in several British and American galleries including Eames Fine Art which represents Ackroyd's work in London, and the Zillah Bell Gallery (which holds the largest collection of his work in the North of England), the Tate, the British Museum, and the National Gallery of Art, Washington.[7][8][9][10][11] He has been in several television programmes, including BBC documentaries in 1980, 2006, and What Do Artists Do All Day? (2013).[12] In September 2024 he was interviewed by Michael Berkeley on Radio 3's programme Private Passions.[13]

## Personal life

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Ackroyd had four children; three daughters and a son. His daughter Poppy is a composer and musician. Ackroyd died in Bermondsey on 16 September 2024, at the age of 86.[14]

## Bibliography

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* Ackroyd, Norman (2003). The Stratton Street series. Herne Bay: Categorical Books. pp. 88pp. ISBN 9781904662020.
* Crossley-Holland, Kevin; Ackroyd, Norman (2006). Moored Man: Poems of North Norfolk. Enitharmon Press. ISBN 9781904634539.
* Ackroyd, Norman; Dunn, Douglas (2009). A Line in the Water. London: Royal Academy of Arts. p. 159\. ISBN 9781903973684.
* Wyatt, John; Ackroyd, Norman (2012). The Shining Levels. Little Toller Books. ISBN 9781908213037.
* Ackroyd, Norman; Devaney, Edith (2013). Summer Exhibition Illustrated 2013. Royal Academy of Arts. ISBN 9781907533433.
* Ackroyd, Norman (2014). A Shetland Notebook. Royal Academy of Arts, London. ISBN 9781907533891.[15]
* Ackroyd, Norman (2015). A Hebridean Notebook. Royal Academy of Arts. ISBN 9781910350355.
* Ackroyd, Norman (2018). The Furthest Lands. Yorkshire Sculpture Park. ISBN 9781908432438.
* Ackroyd, Norman (2022). An Irish Notebook. Royal Academy of Arts. p. 96\. ISBN 9781912520619.

## References

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1. ^ a b c "Norman Ackroyd - Artist - Royal Academy of Arts". Royal Academy. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
2. ^ "Birthdays", The Guardian, p. 37, 26 March 2014
3. ^ a b Gillman, Peter (25 September 2024). "Norman Ackroyd obituary | Art | The Guardian". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 26 September 2024. Retrieved 26 September 2024.
4. ^ United Kingdom: "No. 58196". The London Gazette (1st supplement). 30 December 2006. pp. 1–28.1-28&rft.date=2006-12-30&rft_id=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/58196/supplement/1&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Norman+Ackroyd" class="Z3988">
5. ^ Emison, Patricia (2017). "Norman Ackroyd's Collectors". Art in Print. 7 (1): 28–31.28-31&rft.date=2017&rft.aulast=Emison&rft.aufirst=Patricia&rft_id=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26408787&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Norman+Ackroyd" class="Z3988">
6. ^ Reilly, Samuel (20 December 2018). "An interview with Norman Ackroyd - Apollo Magazine". Apollo Magazine. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
7. ^ "Norman Ackroyd born 1938 - Tate". Tate Britain. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
8. ^ "Norman Ackroyd Landscape, 1973". National Gallery of Art. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
9. ^ "Norman Ackroyd - British Museum". British Museum. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
10. ^ Miers, Mary (6 September 2015). "Norman Ackroyd at Eames Fine Art Gallery, London". Country Life. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
11. ^ "Norman Ackroyd CBE RA". Zillah Bell. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
12. ^ "What Do Artists Do All Day?: Norman Ackroyd (episode 1 of 3)". BBC. 19 March 2013. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
13. ^ "BBC Radio 3 - Private Passions, Norman Ackroyd". BBC. 8 September 2024. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
14. ^ "Norman Ackroyd obituary: energetic Yorkshire born and bred artist". The Times. 18 September 2024. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
15. ^ Kirkwood, Holly (10 August 2014). "Book review: Norman Ackroyd: A Shetland Notebook". Country Life. Retrieved 17 September 2024.

## External links

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* Official website

Artist profiles

* View at City & Guilds of London Art School
* View at MoMA
* View at Tate
* View at the British Council
* View at the British Museum
* View at the Royal Academy of Arts
* View at the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers
* Portraits of Norman Ackroyd at the National Portrait Gallery, London

Artist studio

* Featured in Pressing Matters
* Featured in The Guardian
* Featured in The World of Interiors

Artwork

* 6 artworks by or after Norman Ackroyd at the Art UK site
* View All Artworks and View Profile at the Museum of Modern Art

Interviews

* 2024 Interview with Goldmark Gallery

Obituaries

* Read at Artlyst
* Read at PrintWeek
* Read at The Guardian
* Read at The Telegraph
* Read at The Times
* Read at The World of Interiors

Other profiles

* Norman Ackroyd at IMDb
* Norman Ackroyd discography at Discogs

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
* VIAF
* FAST
* WorldCat

National|

* Germany
* United States
* France
* BnF data
* Australia
* Norway

Artists|

* ULAN
* MusicBrainz
* RKD Artists
* KulturNav
* Museum of Modern Art
* National Gallery of Canada

Other|

* IdRef
* SNAC