Rodney Joseph Burn
Rodney Joseph Burn (11 July 1899 – 11 August 1984) was a British artist who painted landscapes, portraits and figures and seascapes. During his long career he also worked in America and painted in the Channel Islands and Venice and was elected a member of the Royal Academy in 1962.
Also recorded as Rodney Burn · Rodney J. Burn
Rodney Joseph Burn

Burn, Rodney Joseph · http: 140/media-140310/large.jpg This photograph Art.IWM ART LD 4757 comes from the collections of the Imperial War Museums. · Public domain
- Name
- Rodney Joseph Burn
- Born
- 11 July 1899
- Birthplace
- Palmers Green, London, England
- Died
- 11 August 1984
- Field
- Landscape & portrait painting
- Training
- * Slade School of Fine Art
- Nationality
- United Kingdom · United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
- Occupation
- painter
- Education
- Slade School of Fine Art · Harrow School
- Languages
- English
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Documentary connections
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Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q19903640 · wikipedia · Rodney Joseph Burn
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The documentary record
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Institutions cited
Getty Union List of Artist Names
Complete reading chain (JSON)In this article
Biography
Biography
Rodney Joseph Burn studied at Slade School of Fine Art and Harrow School. The recorded working language is English. Work by Rodney Joseph Burn is recorded in the collections of Tate, National Gallery, Manchester Art Gallery, Brighton Museum & Art Gallery and Royal Academy of Arts.

Free French Officers attached to the Research and Experiment Department image: two men stand in the centre of the room, watching light being projected onto an arrangement of crates, tanks, bell jars and piping on the left. On the right a third man has turned around to watch, interrupting his examination of some diagrams at his desk. A fourth man is entering the room through a door in the backgroun
Burn, Rodney Joseph · http: 140/media-140311/large.jpg This photograph Art.IWM ART LD 5047 comes from the collections of the Imperial War Museums.

Full length seated portrait of Dr Stradling beside a desk with a bookcase behind.
Rodney J Burn
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Rodney Joseph Burn • Born — 11 July 1899 • Birthplace — Palmers Green, London, England • Died — 11 August 1984 • Field — Landscape & portrait painting • Training — * Slade School of Fine Art
Documentary record
Rodney Joseph Burn (1899 – 1984) is described as a painter in the authority records of the Getty Union List of Artist Names. Rodney Joseph Burn was born in 1899 in London and died in 1984.
Life and work
Life and work
• Illustration — Dr R E Stradling, CB, MD, FRS (1945) (Art.IWM ART LD 3559) Burn was born in Palmers Green in London and attended Harrow School. His father was Sir Joseph Burn, who was the chairman of the Prudential Insurance company. After military service in the British army in World War One, Burn entered the Slade School of Art where he studied between 1918 and 1922. At the Slade Burn won six major prizes, featured in an article in The Burlington Magazine and met his future wife, the sculptor Dorothy Sharwood Smith. Burn was among a number of London artschool graduates selected by the London County Council to produce a large work for a series showing scenes from London parks, that was intended for the newly built County Hall. Burn exhibited with the New English Art Club from 1923 and held a joint exhibition, with Stephen Bone and Robin Guthrie, at the Goupil Gallery in 1926. From 1929 to 1931 he taught as a tutor at the Royal College of Art. From 1931 to 1934 he was, with Robin Guthrie, the joint director of painting and drawing at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. During the Second World War, Burn was among the artists who worked at the Civil Defence Camouflage Establishment based in Leamington Spa. Later during the war he completed a number of short commissions for the War Artists' Advisory Committee, including a portrait of Dr Stradling, a Director of the Camouflage Establishment. After the war Burn returned to the Royal College of Art and taught there as a Senior Tutor until his retirement in 1965. During his career he also taught at both the Camberwell School of Art and at the City and Guilds of London Art School. Dorothy Sharwood Smith also taught at Camberwell for several years. Burn spent his later years teaching in Europe and sailing. For a time he lived on the south coast of England near Chichester and his last studio was on the bank of the Thames at Chiswick.
Identity and overview
Identity and overview
The following is established of the heading itself.
Works and production
Works and production
The following works and productions are recorded by name or by count. It is also recorded that dr R.
Primary material
Documents and archives
Institutional database
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q19903640: Rodney Joseph Burn
Scholarly · Wikimedia Foundation
reference work
- “Rodney Joseph Burn”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
Memberships
Burn was a member of or affiliated with the following organisations: • 1924: Member, later Honorary Secretary, of the New English Art Club, • 1954: Elected associate of the Royal Academy, • 1962: Elected full member of the Royal Academy. Burn was also a member of the Royal West of England Academy and President of the St. Ives Society of Artists
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Rodney Joseph Burn, revision 1364691097 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
Institutional database
Wikidata, structured authority record Q19903640: Rodney Joseph BurnWikimedia Foundation
Institutional witnessreference work
Secondary witness
People, houses and institutions
Knowledge graph
People, houses and institutions
Teachers, collaborators, publishers and institutions recorded against this person, each on a stated basis.
Studied at
1- Harrow SchoolOrganisation
Established from a fact already recorded on a verified source.
Further particulars
Held on the record
Further particulars
Open the remaining particulars
This entry is compiled from 8 catalogued sources across 4 independent registers. The registers consulted are Crossref registry, Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation and The Art Institute of Chicago. Every statement above is held against the register that stated it; where the registers are silent, the entry is silent.
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 20 August 2026.
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