Bernard Myers was a London-born artist whose career bridged the worlds of painting, teaching and writing. After serving in the RAF during the Second World War, he trained at St Martin’s, at Camberwell and at theRoyal
College of Art, where he studied alongside FranAuerbach, Leon Kossoff and John Bratby. From the beginning, his work combined a curiosity for abstraction with a fascination for observed reality.
In the 1950s and 60s Myers experimented with forms inspired by astronomy, mathematics and the art he encountered on travels through the Middle East and India. Later, his practice evolved into still lifes, landscapes and urban views, with a particular focus on the Thames near his Hammersmith studio, which he took in 1987. He said that his work ‘was dominated by the river’, as shown in his solo exhibition at New Grafton Gallery, 1991. Colour, light and atmospherebecame central to his vision, expressed in oils, pastels and drawings.
Parallel to painting, Myers was teacher and writer. He taught at the Royal College of Art for nearly two decades, where his students included James Dyson, and later became Chair of Design at Brunel University. He spent formative periods in India, helping to establish a design centre in Delhi, and was closely involved in shaping what later became the University of the Arts in London.
His contributions to art writing ranged from monographs to encyclopedias, reflecting his wide knowledge and passion for culture.
Despite health challenges in later years, Myers never stopped working. His final exhibition was held in 2006, only a year before his death, a testament to his determination and love for art. Today he is remembered as an artist who moved effortlessly between abstraction and figuration, as well as a mentor who left a deep mark on British art and design education.
His works are now part of many important museum collections including the Tate Modern, Arts Council Collection (Southbank Centre), Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery, Government Art Collection, National Railway Museum, and the Royal College of Art.
