Barbara Warren (artist) facts for kids

Barbara Warren (28 August 1925 – 10 May 2017) was an important Irish painter. She was a member of Aosdána, which is a special group for top Irish artists.

Early Life and Education

Barbara Warren was born in 1925 in Dublin, Ireland. Her father worked in printing, and her mother came from a County Tipperary family. Barbara went to school at the French School in Bray and Alexandra College.

In 1943, during World War II, she moved to Belfast. There, she helped with the war effort by working on Lancaster bombers, which were large airplanes.

Becoming an Artist

After the war, Barbara decided to study art. She went to the National College of Art and Design (NCAD) in Dublin. She also studied at the Regent Street Polytechnic in London. Later, she even studied art in Paris with a famous teacher named André Lhote.

Artistic Career

Barbara Warren started showing her paintings in 1950. She quickly became known for her talent. In 1955, she won a special scholarship. This allowed her to travel and study the history of European painting.

Teaching and Recognition

From 1973 to 1984, Barbara shared her knowledge by teaching at the NCAD. Her work was highly respected. In 1989, she was chosen to be a member of the Royal Hibernian Academy (RHA). The RHA is a group of Ireland's most skilled artists.

The next year, in 1990, she joined Aosdána. This is a very special honor for artists in Ireland. She also won the James Kennedy Memorial Award for her amazing portrait paintings that year. In 1999, she received a career achievement prize at the Florence Biennale, a big art exhibition in Italy.

Her Art Style

Barbara Warren painted many different subjects. She created beautiful still life paintings, which show everyday objects. She also painted interiors (rooms), figure studies (people), and landscapes (outdoor scenes).

Her art is known for its "representational" style. This means her paintings showed things as they looked in real life. However, she added her own unique artistic touch. The Irish Times newspaper said that her paintings were always new and interesting. They also mentioned that she was one of the last artists from a group of Irish women who studied in France. These artists helped change Irish art in the 20th century.

You can find her paintings in many important collections. These include the Office of Public Works, the Ulster Museum, the Irish Museum of Modern Art, and The National Self-Portrait Collection of Ireland.

Personal Life

In 1961, Barbara Warren married another artist named William Carron. They lived in Howth, a lovely town in Ireland. They had one child, a daughter named Rachael. Barbara was also good friends with other artists, like Elizabeth Rivers and Kitty Wilmer O'Brien.

Barbara Warren passed away in 2017. She left behind a wonderful collection of art.