Glenys Cour
{{Short description|Welsh artist (born 1924)}}
{{EngvarB|date=September 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2014}}
{{Infobox artist
| name = Glenys Cour
| image =
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name = Glenys Irene Carthew
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1924|1|6|df=y}}
| birth_place = Fishguard, Pembrokeshire, Wales
| death_date =
| death_place =
| nationality = Welsh
| spouse = Ronald Cour
| known_for = Painting, stained glass, collage, artist books
| training = Cardiff College of Art
| movement =
| notable_works =
| patrons =
| awards =
| elected = The Welsh Group
Royal Cambrian Academy
| website = {{URL|http://www.glenyscour.co.uk}}
}}
Glenys Irene Cour {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|MBE}} ({{née}} Carthew, born 6 January 1924) is a Welsh artist.
Biography
Cour was born in Fishguard, Pembrokeshire, Wales on 6 January 1924.{{cite web |title=Glenys Cour: can mlynedd o liw |url=https://gwallter.com/art/glenys-cour-can-mlynedd-o-liw.html |website=gwallter |access-date=7 May 2024 |date=12 January 2024 |archive-date=8 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240508141247/https://gwallter.com/art/glenys-cour-can-mlynedd-o-liw.html |url-status=live }} From 1945 until 1948, she studied at Cardiff College of Art under Ceri Richards and married the sculptor Ronald Cour in 1949.{{cite web|title=Mr Ronald Cour ARCA|url=http://sculpture.gla.ac.uk/view/person.php?id=msib1_1206892981|website=Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain and Ireland 1851-1951|publisher=University of Glasgow History of Art and HATII|accessdate=27 February 2017|archive-date=27 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170227150327/http://sculpture.gla.ac.uk/view/person.php?id=msib1_1206892981|url-status=live}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-46151775|title=Restored Dylan Thomas memorial unveiled in Swansea|work=BBC News|date=9 November 2018|access-date=31 March 2019|language=en-GB|archive-date=31 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190331211609/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-46151775|url-status=live}} From 1963 to 2000, she taught painting and architectural glass at Swansea Institute of Higher Education, and the University of Wales, Swansea.{{cite web |url=http://www.atticgallery.co.uk/scripts/topicinfo.asp?t=046 |title=Attic Gallery, contemporary art in Swansea and throughout Wales |publisher=Atticgallery.co.uk |date= |accessdate=14 August 2013 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130813192735/http://www.atticgallery.co.uk/scripts/topicinfo.asp?t=046 |archive-date=13 August 2013 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |url=http://artinwales.250x.com/ArtistsCoG.htm |title=Glenys Cour |publisher=Artinwales.250x.com |date=10 December 2001 |accessdate=14 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150226040155/http://www.artinwales.250x.com/ArtistsCoG.htm |archive-date=26 February 2015 |url-status=dead }}
Cour has been a member of The Welsh Group for a number of years, taking part in many of the group's exhibitions, including its 50th anniversary in 1998.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aXYySHER7x8C&q=50+Years+of+the+Welsh+Group.+Peter+Wakelin |title=Creating an art community – Google Books |accessdate=14 August 2013|isbn=9780720004724 |last1=Wakelin |first1=Peter |year=1999 }}{{cite web|url=http://www.llgc.org.uk/index.php?id=1514&no_cache=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=1455&cHash=8449e65004bab1c67d28b5466ad80b22 |title=Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru – National Library of Wales : Heritage Minister Opens Welsh Group at 60 Exhibition |publisher=Llgc.org.uk |accessdate=14 August 2013 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130706101457/http://www.llgc.org.uk/index.php?id=1514&no_cache=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=1455&cHash=8449e65004bab1c67d28b5466ad80b22 |archivedate=6 July 2013 }} She was elected Royal Cambrian Academician in 2009{{cite web |url=http://www.rcaconwy.org/glenys_cour-196.aspx |title=The Royal Cambrian Academy – Glenys Cour |publisher=Rcaconwy.org |date= |accessdate=14 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140910200142/http://www.rcaconwy.org/glenys_cour-196.aspx |archive-date=10 September 2014 |url-status=dead }} and is also one of the founding artists of Swansea's Mission Gallery.{{cite web |url=http://www.missiongallery.co.uk/exhibitions/metaphors/ |title=Mission Gallery, Swansea, Metaphors, Glenys Cour |publisher=Missiongallery.co.uk |date= |accessdate=14 August 2013 |archive-date=10 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140910200434/http://www.missiongallery.co.uk/exhibitions/metaphors/ |url-status=live }}
Cour turned 100 on 6 January 2024.
Artwork
Cour's artwork is primarily concerned with colour and light, using landscape, flowers, various culturally charged objects, like ancient Greek artefacts or Celtic stones, and mythology, especially the mythology of Wales and the multiplely layered tales of the Mabinogion.[http://huwdavidjones.wordpress.com/2008/08/01/glenys-cour-metaphors/ Glenys Cour: Metaphors] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140910200322/http://huwdavidjones.wordpress.com/2008/08/01/glenys-cour-metaphors/ |date=10 September 2014 }}, Hugh David Jones blog, 1 August 2008. Published in Buzz Magazine (South Wales).{{Art UK bio|retrieved=14 August 2013|ref=1}} Glenys has never used a paintbrush, choosing instead to work with the "immediacy" of oil paint, applying it with torn fabric pieces and her fingers.{{Cite web |last=Bryan |first=Nicola |date=21 December 2024 |title=Colourful life of 100-year-old artist who's never used a paintbrush |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8dq95d29jyo}}
Cour's artwork includes painting on canvas and paper, stained glass, collage, paper making, posters, projections and artist books.
Her use of materials has changed through the years, from the landscape painting of the 1970s, leading into a greater use of collage and abstraction from the 1980s, working predominantly in glass for periods and in 2007 illustrating a book with Old Stile Press.{{cite web |url=http://www.oldstilepress.com/newosp/books/black.html |title=Black Marigolds – illustrated by Glenys Cour |publisher=The Old Stile Press |date= |accessdate=14 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140911001705/http://www.oldstilepress.com/newosp/books/black.html |archive-date=11 September 2014 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |url=http://www.artrabbit.com/uk/events/event/32692/new_work_glenys_cour |title=New Work – Glenys Cour at Oriel Myrddin Gallery |publisher=Artrabbit.com |date= |accessdate=14 August 2013 |archive-date=10 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140910195414/http://www.artrabbit.com/uk/events/event/32692/new_work_glenys_cour |url-status=live }}
Exhibitions
Glenys Cour's artwork has been exhibited widely in Europe and the US, with major exhibitions in her home country of Wales at St. David's Hall in 1991, Glynn Vivian Art Gallery in 2003, the Attic Gallery, Swansea in 2005 and a major retrospective exhibition, curated by Mel Gooding, at the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery in 2014.{{cite web |url=http://www.welshcountry.co.uk/index.php/welsh-art-and-craft-news/arts-news/161-gallery/13014-looking-for-glenys-cour-exhibition-mission-gallery-swansea |title=Looking for Glenys Cour Exhibition Mission Gallery Swansea |publisher=Welshcountry.co.uk |date=20 May 2013 |accessdate=2 September 2013 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130718142819/http://www.welshcountry.co.uk/index.php/welsh-art-and-craft-news/arts-news/161-gallery/13014-looking-for-glenys-cour-exhibition-mission-gallery-swansea |archive-date=18 July 2013 |url-status=dead }} Film maker Toril Brancher was commissioned by the gallery to make a film about Glenys Cour and her artwork as part of the exhibition.{{cite web |author= |url=http://www.glynnvivian.com/2013/05/summer-begins-with-toril-brancher-at-mission/ |title=Summer begins with Toril Brancher at Mission | Glynn Vivian Art Gallery |publisher=Glynnvivian.com |date=20 May 2013 |accessdate=14 August 2013 |archive-date=11 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140911002029/http://www.glynnvivian.com/2013/05/summer-begins-with-toril-brancher-at-mission/ |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=http://www.welshcountry.co.uk/index.php/welsh-art-and-craft-news/arts-news/161-gallery/13014-looking-for-glenys-cour-exhibition-mission-gallery-swansea |title=Looking for Glenys Cour Exhibition Mission Gallery Swansea |publisher=Welshcountry.co.uk |date=2 June 2013 |accessdate=14 August 2013 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130718142819/http://www.welshcountry.co.uk/index.php/welsh-art-and-craft-news/arts-news/161-gallery/13014-looking-for-glenys-cour-exhibition-mission-gallery-swansea |archive-date=18 July 2013 |url-status=dead }}
Her artwork is held in several public and private collections, including the Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, The National Museum of Wales, The Kunsthalle Mannheim Museum, Swansea University, the University of South Wales and Y Gaer.
Awards
- 1989 Best poster for British Arts Festival Association.
- 1992 Painter in glass commission – Glynn Vivian Art Gallery.
- 2004 Honorary Fellow of the Swansea Institute of Higher Education.
- 2006 MA (Honorary) Swansea University.
Cour was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2020 Birthday Honours for services to the visual arts in Wales.{{London Gazette|issue=63135|supp=y|page=B17|date=10 October 2020}}
Publications
Glenys Cour: Paintings and Works on Paper 1980–2003, Mel Gooding and Peter Wakelin, 2003, Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, {{ISBN|9780903189682}}
Further reading
- [http://www.glenyscour.co.uk/gooding.html Article by Mel Gooding] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140531182116/http://glenyscour.co.uk/gooding.html |date=31 May 2014 }}
- [http://www.glenyscour.co.uk/wakelin.html Article by Peter Wakelin] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140531182015/http://glenyscour.co.uk/wakelin.html |date=31 May 2014 }}
- [http://www1.swansea.gov.uk/calmview/Advanced.aspx West Glamorgan Archive Service ] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211022152906/http://www1.swansea.gov.uk/calmview/Advanced.aspx |date=22 October 2021 }}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{official website|http://www.glenyscour.co.uk/}}
- {{cite web |title=Glenys Cour in Conversation with Peter Wakelin |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkeJMRVQSYY |website=YouTube |publisher=Contemporary Art Society for Wales |date=1 December 2020 |access-date=28 September 2021 |archive-date=28 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210928142105/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkeJMRVQSYY |url-status=live }}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cour, Glenys}}
Category:20th-century Welsh painters
Category:20th-century Welsh women artists
Category:21st-century Welsh painters
Category:21st-century Welsh women artists
Category:Alumni of Cardiff School of Art and Design
Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire
Category:Members of The Welsh Group
Category:People from Fishguard
Category:Welsh women centenarians