James Priddey

James Priddey, RBSA, PPRBSA, FRSA, (19 April 1916 – 10 November 1980 ) was an English painter, printmaker, illustrator and member of the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists.

Life and work

James Priddey was born at Handsworth, Birmingham in 1916. Priddey lived and worked in Harborne, Birmingham with his wife Peggy. Between 1974 and 1978 Priddey was elected as the president of the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists.

Priddey had several styles, all unmistakably his own. He produced hundreds of black and white line illustrations for books and pamphlets such as the 1973 publication Heart of England, a guide to the Midlands region which he illustrated throughout, with accompanying text by Louise Wright. Towns, villages, rural scenes and some fine Black Country landscapes filled its pages, while a watercolour, very different in style but equally beautiful, graced the dustjacket. In 1967 Priddey exhibited the etching Cooling Towers, Salford Bridge at the Royal Academy of Art in London. In 2013 Priddey's etched copperplate of Christchurch Passage and the Hand Coloured etching of Christchurch Passage were exhibited in Birmingham, RBSA Gallery as part of the exhibition RBSA: Our Collection, Our Archive and You.

Partial bibliography Illustrations for Books: Heart of England (1973) (Written by Louise Wright) Cotswold Heritage (1977) (Written by Louise Wright)