Perrin, Sydney

Sidney Perrin was a much loved and respected artist. Sidney Perrin was a brilliant painter of enormous talent in the field of watercolour painting and became one of the best known artists of his time.

A modest and unassuming man with a deep Christian commitment, Sidney was born in London where as a young man he studied at the Camberwell School of Art. Some years later he was appointed staff artist and subsequently art editor of the London Financiaj Times. During his long career at the FT, he illustratd many books and produced graphic design for televisioi and advertising companies. Many of his works wan exhibited at the Royal Institute of Watercolours, thi Guildhall and the City of London Academy. On his retirement, Sidney and his wife, Ivy made thei home in the picturesque village of Selworthy from when he developed his distinctive technique in the portrayal of the Exmoor landscape. It was during the mid 1970s the Sidney established his own one-man shows which wen held every Whitsun Bank Holiday at Luccombe, Porlock and for many years at Allerford.

The shows were a huge success with crowds queuing to gain access. Such was the demand for his work tha the artist had to resort to auctioning his work to prevent arguments! After his death in 1987, a retrospectivi exhibition of some 40 paintings from the Perrin family collection took place at the Millwheel Gallery in Porlock All the work sold for prices far higher than Mrs Perrin had expected and in typical generous style, she sent a donation of £7,000 to their favourite charity.

Contributed by: Nigel Clamp