Benedict Rubbra

Benedict Rubbra (1938 - 2024) is a British painter known for his distinguished career in portraiture and his innovative approach to landscape painting. The son of composer Edmund Rubbra and married to potter Tessa Gavin, he studied at Christ’s Hospital and the Slade School of Fine Art (1956–60). Early in his career, Rubbra taught in England and painted extensively in Aix-en-Provence and Florence, later maintaining a studio in Spain where he held regular exhibitions.

His first solo show took place at the Woodstock Gallery, London in 1965, where the Contemporary Art Society acquired Composition II the following year. From 1970, Rubbra focused on portraiture, earning major commissions from prominent figures including HRH The Prince of Wales, Lord Hailsham, Sir Colin Davis, and Sir Ove Arup. Alongside portraiture, he developed a unique method of creating landscapes using three-dimensional models as compositional tools—works exhibited at the Barbican Centre and other venues.

Rubbra’s limited-edition print Winter Sunlight Searching for Snowdrops was published by Curwen Chilford Press in 1992. He is also the author of two instructional books on portraiture. A retrospective of his work was held at the County Museum in Aylesbury in 1998, and in 2000 he collaborated with physiologist Frances Ashcroft on an exhibition bridging art and science.