My friend Robert Organ, who has died aged 90, was a Realist painter whose work explored the world around him in all its beauty and oddity.
His carefully constructed and richly hued paintings often told the story of his life, with large series of canvases depicting his Devon garden, the interior of his house and delectable items spread on large table tops. Other series featured French party scenes and riverscapes near his daughter’s house in France. A series of portrait drawings celebrated his friendships with various well-known figures, among them David Attenborough, Neville Marriner, Robert Tear and Seamus Heaney.
His work was exhibited widely in the south-west of England in mixed and solo shows, including at the Beaux Arts gallery in Bath, the Royal West of England Academy in Bristol, and at the Browse & Darby gallery in London. His paintings were also held in public collections at the Royal Albert Memorial Museum in Exeter and at Godolphin House in Cornwall.
Born in Bristol, he was the son of Edward Organ, an architect, and Peg (nee Hill). Much of his childhood was spent fishing or running riot, and it was not until he entered the West of England College of Art, after having attended Weston-super-Mare grammar school for boys, that he began to take life seriously. His dedication to art won him a place at the Slade School of Art in London, and when national service loomed he spent two years as a conscientious objector working in forestry and in a mental hospital.
In 1958 he married Valerie Buston, the artist (who signed her work Valerie Barden), and they moved to Cornwall, where Robert taught at Falmouth School of Art in its glory days. Although tiny, it was run by a clutch of charismatic artists and succeeded in gaining an impressive reputation, attracting renowned visiting artists such as Sir William Coldstream, Claude Rogers and Patrick Heron.
After 12 years there, Robert needed more time for his own work and moved his family to a farmhouse in Lower Ridge in Devon, near Chard, on the border with Somerset. A large barn there provided a magical studio space for him to work. At the same time he joined his brother Tim to form the companies Artist and Constructor and later Architecton, building more than 100 houses and flats across the south west of England.
In addition he became a drawing tutor at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London and a visiting tutor in architecture at Bristol and Cambridge universities, as well as lecturing passionately for the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings. His flair as a lecturer led to appearances on the BBC’s Open House series, and in 1986 he served as artist in residence at the Royal Albert Memorial Museum in Exeter, where his weekly lunchtime lectures were as hilarious as they were informative.
Robert is survived by Valerie, their children, Tom, Charlotte, Rachel and Sophie, grandchildren Ollie, Spenser and Elsie, and great-grandson Ronnie.
