Richard Bracebridge Challis

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Richard Challis
Richard Challis

Richard Bracebridge Challis was born at home in London, England on Aug. 12, 1920. He died in his home in Laguna Beach of natural causes on Dec. 10, 2014.

His father, Lionel Stevenson Challis, served as a captain during WWI and his mother, Eileen Owen, was a classical violinist.

At age 9 he was enrolled at Broadstairs, a boarding school in Kent; at 12, Kings College School, in Wimbledon, England; and at 15 joined the officers training corps. In 1937, he attended the College of Aeronautical Engineering at Chelsea and Brooklands. Later that year he enlisted in the Westminster Dragoons, Royal Tank Regiment as a trooper.

On Sept. 1, 1939, he entered officer cadet training and was assigned to motor transport during the Blitz of London (1940-41).

At age 22, Capt. Challis was posted to Lake Chad, British Nigeria, where he contracted malaria and black water fever. Upon recovering, he returned to London where he commanded a supply depot in the converted Kensington Palace barracks.

On Sept. 27, 1946, Challis emigrated to the United States in order to help care for his Aunt Ethel Geraldine Owen, author of children’s books, head of the London Unity Centre, and owner of the then solitary “white house” that still overlooks Aliso Beach in Laguna Beach. He soon bought himself a small house at the end of Canyon Acres Drive.

In 1947, Richard purchased a picture framing business near Sleepy Hollow Lane on Coast Highway from Harold E. Reed. Learning the trade over the course of two years, he was eventually persuaded by artists to hang a few of their paintings, establishing one of the town’s earliest galleries.

In 1950, Challis purchased a building on the corner of Coast Highway and Mountain Road and established Laguna Studio Gallery, which later became Challis Galleries.

For over 35 years, Challis Galleries represented and sold the work of scores of notable artists including Phil Dike, Rex Brandt, George Post, Roger Kuntz and Leonard Kaplan.

Challis was involved in many philanthropic efforts over the years, including organizing an art auction fundraiser for victims of a 1971 flood.

He was a member of Laguna Greenbelt, Friends of Newport Coast and MMM, participating in efforts to rescue the Laguna Art Museum. In 1970, as president of Laguna Beach Dog Owners Society, he organized a now infamous protest march on Main Beach.

Challis became a naturalized citizen on Oct. 20, 1993. The following year, he donated his gallery records to The Archives of American Art at the Smithsonian Institution, where they can be reviewed by special appointment.

Challis was married in 1947-49 to Jerry Pershing Coglin, in 1954-62 to Carlene Joanne Clark and in 1963-1970 to Patricia Childs Turnier in the U.S.

Challis is survived by his two children Diane Leslie Challis Davy and David Richard Challis, grandson Thomas Stevenson Davy, and in the United Kingdom by his sister Beryl Serjeant, niece Valerie Leggate and nephew Christopher Challis Serjeant.

 

 

 

 

 

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