The Thomas Merton Center at Bellarmine University

Obituary of Owen Merton

The Times, Wednesday, January 21, 1931. Page 10.

Mr. Owen Merton died in the Middlesex Hospital on Sunday, after a long illness at the age of 43. A correspondent writes of him:


Mr. Merton was a water-colour painter of distinction, who, had he lived longer, would have earned a wide reputation. Exhibitions of his work have twice been given at the Leicester Galleries, and examples have from time to time been shown at the R.B.A., the International Society, and elsewhere. His pictures displayed a sense of design and a delicacy of colour which reflected his love of the Chinese masters, together with a strength and individuality which bore witness to the originality and power of the artists mind. Mr. Merton spent much of his life in France and North Africa, and while this to some extent prevented his work from reaching a very wide circle, it gave him the opportunity of living among the natural beauty which meant so much to him. His love of landscape and his passion for painting enabled him to inspire all those who came in contact with him, and many other painters owe much to his helpful enthusiasm.

© The Times, London.


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