Richard Perry Bedford
Born 15 November 1883
Died 3 October 1967
Active: 1903 - 1953
Country of birth and death: England
Sculptor, museum curator
Born in Torquay, Devon. He was the son of George Bedford, Headmaster of Torquay School of Art. Richard was educated at Dean Close School, Cheltenham and at the Central School of Arts and Crafts. In 1903 he joined the staff of the Victoria and Albert Museum as a technical assistant. Bedford rose through the ranks to become Keeper of Sculpture (1924-38), then Keeper of the Department of Circulation (1938-46), and finally Curator of Pictures at the Ministry of Works (1947-48).
Bedford came to sculpture comparatively late. His first show was at the Goupil Gallery in 1927. He went on to exhibit works at Alex Reid and Lefèvre (one-man show, 1936), the Leicester Galleries, the Beaux-Arts Gallery, the New Burlington Gallery, and Princes Galleries. Bedford also showed work in the Open Air Sculpture Exhibition, Battersea Park, 1948 and he had a one-man show at The Minories, Colchester in 1960. He was an active member of the London Group in the 1930s and also a member of the Seven and Five Society in 1932-3.
Bedford published 'St James the Less', 1911, and many articles and reviews in the 'Dictionary of National Biography', 'Encyclopaedia Britannica', the 'Burlington Magazine', the 'Connoisseur', 'Artwork', 'Kunstkronik', and Thieme’s 'Künstlerlexikon'. He died at his home in West Mersea, Essex.
Works
Dates are usually the year a work was exhibited so may differ from date of production.
New entries have been made each time a work was exhibited. Click here for more information.
Black Tulip
1938
Dragon
1938
Locations
Address 5 Templeton Place Earl's Court London | View on map
1911 (Circa)
Lodging here
Address 24 Eastside Road Golders Green London NW11 | View on map
1942 - 1947
Address Daisy Bank Firs Chase West Mersea | View on map
1948 (Circa) - 1967
Presume this was still his address at his death
Exhibitions, Meetings, Awards and other Events
Exhibited at New Movements in Art (Manchester City Art Gallery), 1942
Multiple works
Exhibited at London Group Exhibition, 1914-1939
1931 - 1939
Exhibited 9 times, usually one work but twice five works (1933 and 1937)
Exhibited at Palace of Arts Empire Exhibition Scotland, 1938
1938
Exhibited at The Exhibition of the Royal Academy of Arts (Summer Exhibition), 1768-
1942 - 1953
Exhibited 7 times, usually one work.
Institutional and Business Connections
Member of committee at London Group
1936 - 1938
Member of Hanging Committee
Worked for Victoria and Albert Museum
1903 - 1946
Technical Assistant from 1903; Keeper, Dept of Sculpture, 1924-38, Dept of Circulation, 1938-46; Curator of Pictures, Ministry of Works, 1947-48.
Descriptions of Practice
Occupation given in Census Returns of England and Wales, 1911
'Technical Assistant, Victoria & Albert Museum'
Sources
Catalogue of New Movements in Art, 1942
1942
Cat. Nos. 86, 87, 88, p. 10
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1911
2009
RG14PN132 RG78PN4 RD2 SD1 ED45 SN156
England & Wales, Death Index: 1916-2007
2007
Name: Richard P Bedford
Birth Date: abt 1884
Date of Registration: Oct-Nov-Dec 1967
Age at Death: 83
Registration district: Colchester
Inferred County: Essex
Volume: 4a
Page: 641
England & Wales, FreeBMD Birth Index, 1837-1915
2006
Name: Richard Perry Bedford
Date of Registration: Oct-Nov-Dec 1883
Registration district: Newton Abbot
Inferred County: Devon
Volume: 5b
Page: 151
Palace of Arts
Empire Exhibition
Scotland
1938
The Fine Art Section of the Empire Exhibition
1938
The London Group 1913-1939: The artists and their works
1995
pp. 49-50 and p. 194
The Times Digital Archive 1785-1985
2008
Mr Richard Bedford.
The Times (London, England), Thursday, Oct 05, 1967; pg. 12; Issue 57064. (292 words)
Category: Obituaries
Who was Who
December 2007
'BEDFORD, Richard Perry’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2008; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2007 [http://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/article/oupww/whowaswho/U56295, accessed 2 April 2013]
Citing this record
'Richard Perry Bedford', Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain and Ireland 1851-1951, University of Glasgow History of Art and HATII, online database 2011 [http://sculpture.gla.ac.uk/view/person.php?id=msib7_1204822914, accessed 22 Mar 2023]
