Biography
Muriel Wilson (1933-2018) married Professor Sir Colin St John (‘Sandy’) Wilson (1922-2007), the architect of the British Library and Pallant House Gallery’s contemporary wing in Chichester in 1955 but divorced him in 1971. She worked at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) in 1950s and worked on the The Indpendent Group's 'This is Tomorrow' exhibition at Whitechapel Art Gallery, 1956. She later became Curator at the British Council and its Direrctor of Visual Arts.
She was a Contemporary Art Society Committee Member (1978-82) and a CAS Craft buyer in 1986, 1988. For the CAS in 1984 she bought work, amongst many others, by Richard Deacon, Rose Garrard, Lisa Milroy, Alison Wilding and Susan Hiller and remarked that the almost equal proportion of men to women in the final list was not a conscious policy … but amply demonstrates the quality of interesting women artists currently working in this country.
In retirement she had time to indulge her passion for the decorative arts and, in particular, contemporary jewellery. She joined various societies, and was extremely generous with her time, serving on several committees and councils, organising research trips. Muriel was a Founding Member of the Association of Contemporary Jewellers and Honorary Secretary for seven years. She initiated their magazine Findings and served as editor for 15 years, from 1998 to 2013. She was also Managing Editor of Jewellery History Today for the Society of Jewellery Historians. Precise, often sharp, in her use of words, it is not surprising that she was also a very accomplished fencer.
A Life in Art: The Muriel Wilson Bequest, Pallant House, Chichester, Wednesday 5 August - Sunday 29 November 2020
