Dennis Henry Osborne who died aged 95, was a remarkable man and a remarkable artist, whose legacy is a great body of work painted across seven decades.
The background to Osborne’s extensive work are the historical events and changing aesthetics of the 20th century, into which his experience was closely tied.
He was born on December 23rd, 1919, in Portsmouth, to a Royal Naval family, the fourth of five children. He served in the second World War with the Royal Field Artillery after joining up with the Territorial Army at age 19. During this tumultuous era, he was rescued from the beaches of Dunkirk, served in North Africa, was captured in the Libyan desert by the Germans and transported to Italy in the hold of a boat to a work camp in the Dolomites. From this camp, he escaped with a friend into the hills and lived in an Italian village for six months, while being sheltered by local families. He recorded the experience in a brief biography, Soft Peach in a Hard Can.
Recapture brought further hardship – the long walk to Hannover and incarceration in Polish Stalag 8C. There he remained, until liberation by the Americans at the end of the war. During this time, Dennis discovered a passion for drawing and this blossoming talent afforded him some luxuries such as the odd cigarette for drawing portraits of the sweethearts of a guard or fellow prisoner. This passion was further developed at Camberwell School of Arts & Crafts (1946-1950), where he was awarded a scholarship by London County Council.
Osborne was part of the Euston Road School of painting that pursued naturalism and sought to bring art to a wider audience. During this time, he met and married the young and beautiful artist Jean Meikle. After Camberwell his affinity for Irish landscape brought him to live in Donegal, where he stayed at the gate lodge of Glenveagh Castle.
In 1952, just after Osborne had exhibited in the Royal Academy in London, he and Jean immigrated to Ontario. During this time, he exhibited in many prestigious exhibitions, such as the Hamilton Art Gallery, Ontario (1957) and the 20th Biennial International Water-colour Exhibition, Brooklyn Art Museum, New York (1959).
In the early 1960s Dennis and Jean came back to Ireland, where Jean died in 1965. He secured a teaching position in Portadown Technical College and then Lisnagarvey, where he was head of the art department until 1983. He continued to apply his fierce curiosity exploring the mundane and the marvellous through his prolific works – often showing the ordinary in an extraordinary way. He continued to exhibit and painted up to his 90th year.
Osborne was a witty and engaging man, a great raconteur who captivated friends and family with tales of his extraordinary life.
Dennis Osborne passed away peacefully in Movilla Nursing Home, Newtownards on May 10th. He is survived by his daughter Moya, her husband John, his grandchildren Chris and Barbara and great-grandchildren Lewi and Emilia.
Mary Martin