Skip this CV for my blogs (below)
James Page-Roberts was born on the 5th of
February 1925 in the Roman town of Silchester .
Educated at Wellington
College and Taft
School (USA ).
Joined the RAF in 1942.
Having been invalided out of the
war as a pilot, he became a medical student at St. Thomas 's Hospital. After a recurrence of
tuberculosis, he studied art at the Central School of Art under Bernard
Meninsky, and then theatre design. Having completed the design course at the Old Vic
School
Returning
to his primary love of painting, he exhibited in many mixed exhibitions, like
the Society of Marine Artists and Wessex Artists, and in London galleries, such as The Leicester
Galleries and The Redfern Gallery. He held one-man shows of landscape and
people in landscape at galleries in London 's
Gallerie de Seine, West Halkin
Street , The Reid Gallery, Cork Street , The Qantas Gallery, Bond Street ,
besides shows at The Central Library, Cambridge ,
and The Kintetsu Gallery, Osaka ,
Japan Tower
Bridge
Finding
that he was adding more and more sculpture to his various exhibitions of
paintings and drawings, he was working toward a show of large works in elm wood
when a broken wrist, sustained in a car accident, put an end to the project.
Now, unable to sculpt, he turned his attention to writing, penning over 700
articles for magazines and newspapers (including the Financial Times), mainly on
the subjects of wine and vines.
He was
several times the subject of Jeanine McMullen’s BBC Radio 4 programme “A Small
Country Living”.
He is the
author of "Vines in your Garden" (Argus Books), author/illustrator of
"The Best Wine in the Super Market" and the first three editions of
"The Best Wine Buys in the High Street" (Foulsham), author and part
illustrator of "The Oldie Cookbook" (The Carbery Press),
author/illustrator and part photographer of "Vines and Wines in a Small Garden"
(The Herbert Press/A & C Black), "Wines from a Small Garden"
(Abbeville Press, New York/Bloomsbury), its second edition translation into
Dutch, "Druif en wijn uit eigen tuin" (Schuyt, Haarlem), "Guide
to a Dockland of Change" (The Mudlark Press), "Canary Wharf and
Sights from Docklands Light Rail" (The Mudlark Press), "Dockland
Buildings Old and New" (The Mudlark Press), "Cooking in Docklands
Past and Present" (The Mudlark Press) and "Harbours, Girls and a
Slumbering World" (The Mudlark Press).
In the
early 1960s he bought a warehouse on the Thames
in Limehouse and converted it to two studios, wanting to live in the district
from which he had worked on coasters as a supernumerary. This turned out to be
the first warehouse in Docklands to be converted into living accommodation.
One-time
member of the Circle of Wine Writers, he is a member of The Society of Authors.
Referred to
by Punch as a Reformation man, and even 'new age man' by the BBC, he has behind
him considerable experiences in life. These include: volunteer fireman, farm
labourer, prop-swinger, RAF pilot, medical student, art student, matelot
supernumerary, scene painter at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, set
designer for the theatre and television, designer for children's theatre and
television, house designer and builder, world traveller, painter, fruit picker,
house husband/father, vineyard owner and vigneron, sculptor, author,
illustrator, sound and television broadcaster (the subject of two Gardeners'
World programmes for BBC2 and also for Southern and Cable Television),
photographer and publisher.
The author
now lives with his Dutch wife, Margreet, on the borders of Hammersmith and
Chiswick, London ,
where he has returned to painting (pastels, small and large) after a break that
consisted of two years of sculpture and 25 years of writing. The subjects of
his pastels are his garden, the shadows of aircraft, the relationships between
the hulls of ships in and out of water, kites and landscape recalled. He
continues to write a Blog (www.webpageroberts.blogspot.com)
from which there are links to his paintings, sculpture and books.
In 2006 his
1954 painting of Chelsea Football Ground sold for £33,600 at Christie’s
Salerooms, South Kensington, London .
Since returning
to painting (pastels) he had a very successful exhibition, entitled Aircraft Shadows, at the Mayor Gallery
in Cork Street , London
At
Christie’s, in December 2010, a 1964 painting of Tower Bridge with a ship
offloading was sold for £7,500, and a collage with paint for £2,250, the latter
joining a collection where it replaced a Matisse on the wall. He has sold
through the Offer Waterman Gallery. He continues to sell with success to
private collectors and at Christie’s.
On June 2,
2014, as Guest of Honour, he gave the opening speech at Guildhall Art
Gallery
MIXED EXHIBITIONS
1955, SOCIETY OF
MARINE ARTISTS
1955, DAILY EXPRESS
YOUNG ARTISTS
1955 WESSEX
1956 LEICESTER
GALLERIES
1956 LEICESTER GALLERIES
1956 REDFERN GALLERY
1957 LEICESTER
GALLERIES
1957 GALLERIE DE SEINE
1958 GALLERIE DE SEINE
1958 GALLERIE DE SEINE
2014-2015 GUILDHALL
ART GALLERY
ONE MAN EXHIBITIONS
1957 GALLERIE DE SEINE , WEST HALKIN STREET , LONDON
1960 REID GALLERY, CORK
STREET , LONDON
1961 KINTETSU GALLERY, OSAKA ,
JAPAN
1969 QANTAS GALLERY, BOND
STREET , LONDON
1977 CAMBRIDGE CENTRAL LIBRARY, CAMBRIDGE
1989 LOFT GALLERY, STANSTEAD ABBOTTS (sculpture)
2009 MAYOR GALLERY, CORK
STREET , LONDON
NATIONAL COLLECTION:
