Born in Edinburgh on 17th May, 1955, Jonathon moved to France in 1992; he makes his home in a hilly small village due north of Nice. 

He was educated at The Edinburgh Academy and read Moral Sciences at Pembroke College Cambridge.  At first involved in arts journalism and as occasional organiser, he now works solely as writer, artist and broadcaster.

selected recent exhibitions

(invité indicates participation in a group show; t.b.a. means ‘to be announced’)

On a Scroll, on a Roll..., Vetlanda Museum, Vetlanda, Sweden; 2007 t.b.a.

Final details of Jonathon’s début museum show in Sweden and an associated commercial show in Göteborg will be announced in the summer.

Veni, vidi, vici..., Galerie la Cadrerie, Marseille; 14th March – 6th April, 2007

Jonathon is one of three British artists chosen for their love of living in France to participate in a group show organised by the Institut de l’Entente cordiale in Marseille.

The Stations of the Cross, The Church of St Andrew’s Fulham Fields, London; Lent 2007

Later in the year a small second set of Stations will be unveiled at the Église St Michel in Duranus, the artist’s adopted village in the Alpine foothills north of Nice.

Au pinceau du soleil... (Brushing with Sunlight), Domaine Grand Cros, Carnoules, Var, France; Autumn 2006

Jonathon’s solo show at the Grand Cros followed his participation in their Celebration of Grapes, a group show in the summer of 2005, at which his hanging canvas “Noah, drunk” was first seen.

All that jazz..., Lorgues, Var, France; Spring/Summer 2005

Jonathon’s invitation show over Easter featured several large new scroll paintings, including Bryce Canyon, St Francis at San Marco and the Jazz Curtain Crucifix.

Capri Caprices, Barry Stern Gallery, Woolhara, Sydney; August/September 2004

This was Jonathon’s début show in Sydney, following his first Australian show a year before in Adelaide, and concentrated on paintings, scrolls and drawings of the journey up from the port to the gardens of San Michele on Capri.

The Scottish Riviera, Greenhill Gallery, Adelaide, South Australia; June/July 2003

RoadMovies, Talbot Rice Gallery, University of Edinburgh; May/July 2002

Preparations are in hand for "RoadMovies" to travel to Nice, at the invitation of the Mayor of Nice.

Les Découverts, Centre International d'Art Contemporain, Château de Carros, France;  t.b.a.

Tjugo-tjugo, Galerie Tråman, Jönjöping & Rackargården, Kalmar, Sweden; 2001

The title means ‘20-20’ in Swedish and refers to a batch of special little canvases done for this exhibition on which Jonathon only allows himself to use paint left over on the brush from bigger work in hand.

Invité d'Honneur, Mouvement des Arts, Hyères; 15-18.ii.2002

Recent Series Paintings, The Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh; ix.2000

Jonathon’s début show at The Open Eye, though his work has appeared in group shows for some years.

Musiciens de la Mer (invité), Musée International d'Art naïf, Nice; vi/x.2000

Målningar & Skulpturer, Galerie Carl International, Torskinge, Sweden; v.2000

Ripolins, Galérie Ecuador, Nice; xi.1999

This was Jonathon’s first show of paintings entirely done using household paint (‘ripolin’).

Une petite Grande Retrospective des Années en France, Vieux Château du Bar-sur-Loup, Alpes Maritimes, France; vii. 1999

installations/décors 

Au Bonheur du Pied, shoe shop in Neuilly/Paris, 2004

Top Vacences, Occelli Immobilier; Nice, 1998

Calexico, Restaurant Mexicain; Vieux Nice, 1998

stage

Les Caprices de Marianne;  Henri Sauguet/de Musset, l'Opéra National de Bordeaux; t.b.a. 

Deux de Duras; Cambodia, 2008 ; t.b.a.

La Folie Tristan;  Opéra de la Péniche, Paris; 1996 

Jonathon’s décor was for a working by Max Charruyer of texts from Wagner, Nietzsche and Ludwig II, woven around the Tristan legend and Wagner’s music; dubbed by a critic ‘Bayreuth-sur-Seine’, it was staged in a barge on the Seine and featured Jonathon’s first ‘painted piano’; the second one was featured in RoadMovies at the Talbot Rice in 2002.

A Celebration of Humour;  Théatre des Variétés, Monte Carlo; 1995

Walton, Façade;  Nicolson, Cassandra's Death  (world première);  Royal Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh Festival; 1989

Mozart, Bastien & Bastienne; Darwin College, Cambridge;  1979

books...

RoadMovies — First Stop; The Talbot Rice Art Gallery & the University of Edinburgh; v.2002

The book for the RoadMovies show contained an extended and wide-ranging interview with Jonathon, by Herbert Glenn.

Le Destin des Lévriers; an English translation from the French of Xavier Przezdziecki ; x.2001

Puccini; Brahms; Debussy, Pavilion Books, London; Simon & Schuster, New York; 1995/96

. . . & broadcasting . . .

Well, Jonathon... — principal guest at BBC Radio Three’s Opera Box during the broadcasts of Wagner’s “Ring” Cycle, 2005-2006

Step on it... — musings on the effect of the invention of the piano pedal on the history of Western music; an interval talk during the interval of the BBC Radio Three broadcast of a piano recital from the Wigmore Hall, January, 2004

Hearing the light... — an artist's eye's appreciation of the importance of the composer’s visual instructions in Wagner's stage directions: an interval talk during the BBC Radio Three broadcast of “Tristan und Isolde” from Glyndebourne, Saturday 7th June, 2003

Shelf Life — the Potterings of a Classical Collector; Riviera Radio, at Radio Monte Carlo; a series of weekly three-hour programmes devoted to Jonathon’s record collection; 1995-1997

. . . & writing

Smoking Gun; a major profile of David Hockney at his retrospective of portraiture, at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; The Herald, 1st April, 2006

An Artist at the Opera; a series of articles for BBC Music Magazine in 2003/2004, about artists who have designed sets for opera and ballet; the magazine has run other whimsical articles including “OTT” and “OOPS” and an article about what music to play in the car...

previous writing includes: regular contributions to Times Literary Supplement, “Commentary”, 1983-92; What’s On Scotland, Arts Editor 1985-1991; Scotland on Sunday, opera & music correspondent, 1989-92; adam; International Record Review;  BBC Music Magazine; Music & Musicians &c. &c. 

Finally, Jonathon Brown is the Founder Editor of The Canard, the newsletter of the Riviera Cricket Club.