{"id":27418,"date":"2013-07-19T15:46:07","date_gmt":"2013-07-19T14:46:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bohemiavillage.com\/?p=27418"},"modified":"2013-07-30T15:15:50","modified_gmt":"2013-07-30T14:15:50","slug":"robert-farqhuar-bob-the-brush-1937-2013","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.bohemiavillage.com\/?p=27418","title":{"rendered":"Robert Farqhuar (Bob the Brush) 1937 \u2013 2013"},"content":{"rendered":"

Written by Jonathan Broughton<\/a>, July 2013.<\/p>\n

\"'Bob<\/a>

Bob the Brush Robert Farquhar<\/p><\/div>\n

Bohemia resident, Robert Farquhar has died at the age of seventy five. His gaunt frame, strong features and, up until a year ago, hair down to his waist, he cut a striking and familiar figure trundling up and down Bohemia Road in his electric buggy.<\/span><\/p>\n

Diagnosed with pneumonia and admitted straight to hospital, he died the same evening.<\/p>\n

Eccentric, quirky, a true Bohemian, Robert Farquhar enjoyed success as an accomplished and highly regarded artist.<\/p>\n

He achieved recognition after treading a long and very rocky path.<\/p>\n

\u201cI lived in the fast lane, have now and pay tomorrow. I didn\u2019t care.\u201d To make a quick buck, he burgled. Jewellery, antiques, he even robbed Wells Cathedral. Six years, seven years, the prison sentences followed. As a young burglar he could \u201crun up the side of a building.\u201d In all Robert spent thirty-two years in gaol.<\/p>\n

Relieved of everyday responsibilities and encouraged to take part in a wide range of activities, his artistic talent came to the fore. His first paintings featured abstract works: later, Expressionism became his preferred medium. His subjects concentrated on prisoners and prison life. \u201cWith a different background,\u201d the head of education in one prison told him, \u201cyou could have been an academic.\u201d Robert possessed a very high IQ.<\/p>\n

His paintings won three Koestler awards. These are presented to prisoners who produce exceptional works of art in gaol. The late Sir Hugh Casson, President of the RoyalAcademy and Chairman of the Koestler Trust became one of Robert\u2019s patrons. He liked Farquhar\u2019s \u2018anarchic\u2019 spirit and thought his paintings captured the \u2018claustrophobia of prison life.\u2019<\/p>\n

On Robert\u2019s final release from prison in nineteen eighty-five, Sir Hugh Casson supported the hostel-cum-gallery for ex-prisoners that Robert ran in Waterloo. At this time Robert became a Koestler judge, touring prisons. When the landlord of the Waterloo building wanted a share in the gallery, Robert left and toured around Great Britain in a London Cab, in which he also lived.<\/p>\n

Fourteen years ago, as an artist and as a person, Robert disappeared.<\/p>\n

In August 2009, Sue Norton of Cafe Sixty Seven, Bohemia Road asked her friend Josie O\u2019Rourke to deliver a meal to a \u2018miserable old sod, who doesn\u2019t speak.\u2019<\/p>\n

The ground floor bedsit appeared derelict, until Josie discovered \u2018a little old man with a beard.\u2019 On a string above his bed hung photocopies of paintings.<\/p>\n

Once Josie established that he was Robert Farquhar, the artist, she approached local art galleries to suggest holding an exhibition of his works. All his originals had long since been sold or given away. The Hastings Arts Forum agreed and backed by local sponsors, she raised enough money to buy paints, frames and canvases. Robert promised twenty paintings, though he hadn\u2019t picked up a paint brush in nine years.<\/p>\n

As he worked, his old enthusiasm returned. \u201cI\u2019ve seen terrible villains whose lives changed when they picked up a paint brush \u2013 I believe in what the Koestler Trust is about: helping people.\u201d<\/p>\n

The show\u2019s success galvanised Robert. \u201cI\u2019ll meet old friends again, who once believed in me. A lot of people have my paintings \u2013 maybe I\u2019ll get a West End show like I had years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over the years Robert painted hundreds of paintings. \u201cThose he didn\u2019t sell, he gave away,\u201d explains Susan Farquhar, his niece. \u201cHe was such a kind soul and lived a very simple life. Material goods didn\u2019t interest him. He ate like a sparrow.\u201d<\/p>\n

One Christmas, Susan saved his life. \u201cHe developed pleurisy. So I took him home with me to Wolverhampton and nursed him. It took three months.\u201d<\/p>\n

A wealthy patron from Robert’s London days bought the one bedroom flat for him in Bohemia Road.<\/p>\n

Susan says, \u201cHe called it \u2018The Hovel.\u2019\u201d Unable to pay his bills, Robert kept warm in the local bookmakers. \u201cHe lived for his paintings. Any money he made he gave away.\u201d<\/p>\n

Susan held Robert\u2019s wake at Cafe Sixty Seven. \u201cThe funeral at the crematorium was so nice, because the Reverend Ron Baker began by saying that it was an honour to take the service.\u201d<\/p>\n

Robert leaves behind two children. The first one born when Robert was sixty. Asked once about any advice he might give to a young person at risk of wasting their life, he replied: \u201cLearn, read, study and listen to classical music \u2013 it touches the soul and makes us question who we are and where we are going. There\u2019s more to life than gold chains and Bentleys.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Robert<\/a>

Robert Farquhar memorial in window of his flat in Bohemia Road, Hastings.<\/p><\/div>\n

RELATED ITEMS<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Sources:<\/span> The Observer 27th June 2010<\/p>\n

Susan Farquhar<\/p>\n

Pigeons <\/a>– a short story by Robert Farquhar, 2011.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Written by Jonathan Broughton, July 2013. Bob the Brush Robert Farquhar Bohemia resident, Robert Farquhar has died at the age of seventy five. His gaunt frame, strong features and, up until a year ago, hair down to his waist, he cut a… Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":27424,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[230,109,125],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/www.bohemiavillage.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/bv\/Robert-Farquhar.jpg","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.bohemiavillage.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27418"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.bohemiavillage.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.bohemiavillage.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.bohemiavillage.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.bohemiavillage.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27418"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"http:\/\/www.bohemiavillage.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27418\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27438,"href":"http:\/\/www.bohemiavillage.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27418\/revisions\/27438"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.bohemiavillage.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/27424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.bohemiavillage.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.bohemiavillage.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.bohemiavillage.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}