1. Bertram Mackennal was one of the few artists that King George V liked, and, as a result, was selected to create many sculptures of the late king.
14 Facts About Bertram Mackennal
1. 2.
Bertram Mackennal was born in Fitzroy, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne, the second son of parents who were both of Scottish descent.
3.
Bertram Mackennal's mother was Annabella, Hyde, and his father was John Simpson Mackennal, a "prominent Melbourne artist and sculptor".
4.
Bertram's brother Horace John Mackennal would go on to be a prominent architect who was responsible for the design of many large architectural projects in Victoria in his capacity as Commonwealth Works Director for Victoria.
5.
On returning to England, Bertram Mackennal was appointed head of modelling and design at the Coalport Potteries, Shropshire early in 1886.
6.
Bertram Mackennal met the visiting Sarah Bernhardt who strongly advised him to leave Australia and return to Paris.
7.
Bertram Mackennal borrowed money from Frank Stuart and arrived in Paris in 1891.
8.
Bertram Mackennal was the first Australian to exhibit at the Royal Academy.
9.
Bertram Mackennal returned to London, and among his works of this period were the fine pediment for the local government board office at Westminster, a Boer War memorial for Islington, and statues of Queen Victoria for Ballarat, Lahore, and Blackburn.
10.
Bertram Mackennal designed the medals for the 1908 London Olympic Games.
11.
In 1910 Bertram Mackennal designed the Coronation Medal for King George V and won the important commission for the obverse design of the new coinage needed for the new reign from 1911, from which he developed the new design for the King's head on British postage stamps.
12.
Bertram Mackennal sculpted statues of King Edward VII for London, Melbourne, Calcutta and Adelaide.
13.
Bertram Mackennal completed the Desert Mounted Corps memorial at the Suez Canal from the designs of Charles Web Gilbert a little while before his death.
14.
Sir Bertram Mackennal died suddenly from rupture of abdominal aneurysm at his house, Watcombe Hall, near Torquay, Devon on 10 October 1931; he was survived by Lady Mackennal and a daughter.