The Foyer and Staircase
In this area one can see
- a portrait bust of Peter Brown, CBE
- a portrait bust of Sir Frederic Kenyon, GBE, KCB, FBA, FSA
- Centenary, an Ikat weaving by Mary Restieaux
Irena Sedlecka Belsky (b. 1928)
2003, bronze bust, height: 65cm, British Academy Collection
Peter Brown, CBE
Secretary 1983-2006
Peter Brown joined the Academy as Deputy Secretary in 1975, becoming Secretary in 1983. As Secretary, he was responsible for a significant development in the Academy's role as a major public funding agency of the humanities and social sciences, leading eventually to the creation of the Arts and Humanities Research Board, which formally became a Research Council in 2005. During his tenure he strengthened the Academy's role as a learned society, with expanded programmes in publications, conferences and other events, and policy-related activities.
Sedlecka-Belsky was born in Czechoslovakia, but has lived and worked in London since 1968. She trained at the Academy of Fine Art in Prague; she has a number of works on permanent public display in a number of European cities.
J. A. Stevenson
1931, replica of a bronze bust belonging to the British Museum, height: 48cm, British Academy Collection
Sir Frederic Kenyon, GBE, KCB, FBA, FSA (1863-1952)
Elected to the Fellowship 1903; President 1917-21; Secretary 1930-49; Treasurer 1940-50
Kenyon was appointed as an assistant in the Department of Manuscripts at the British Museum in 1889, rising by 1909 to be Director of the Museum, in which role he did much to make the Museum and its collection more accessible to the general public. Early in his career he published editions and translations of the Museum's collection of Greek papyri; later he published critical editions of the poems of Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and volumes of their correspondence. Kenyon was closely involved in the foundation and administration of the British Academy, serving as President, Treasurer and Secretary.
2002, textile, 155 x 75 cm, British Academy Collection
Centenary
Mary Restieaux (b.1945)
This textile was made in silk using the ikat technique, practiced throughout the world but particularly in South East Asia, India, Indonesia and Japan, whereby yarns are tied before being dipped in dye in order to protect the knotted areas along the length of the yarn from the dye. Natural movement during the weaving process produces the feathered edges, which define one area of colour from the next. The word 'Ikat' comes from the Malay-Indonesian word 'mengikat' meaning to bind or tie.
Restieaux is one of the UK's leading creators of craft textiles.