East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing
Encyclopedia
The East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing was an art learning environment established by Cedric Morris
and Arthur Lett-Haines
in East Anglia in 1937. It was run on very idiosyncratic lines based upon the "free rein" approach that was then current in French academies. It had a great influence on many Suffolk
artists and made an important contribution to art teaching in the east of England for forty years.
, Essex
. In addition to the proprietors, there was a third teacher Ian Brinkworth a secretary, model and one student when it opened. By December 1937 there were 60 students and the school held its first exhibition. The school was described in a prospectus as "an oasis of decency for artists outside the system". Lett-Haines taught theory, whereas Morris taught by encouragement and example. Lucian Freud
was among the earliest students joining at the age of seventeen in 1939.
had himself driven round its smoking ruins gloating at the destruction of what he saw as a dangerously radical tendency. Undisturbed, Morris told the students draw the burnt-out wreck and arranged emergency facilities in a local pub. Towards the end of 1939 Lett and Cedric discovered Benton End, a rambling 16th-century house with gardens, on the outskirts of Hadleigh in Suffolk. This allowed the artists to live and run their school and also accommodate their students in one place. Previously Morris and Lett-haines had lived at Pound Farm in Suffolk, and students were disposed about in lodgings. Lett was the 'father' of the community, in charge of its daily administration and as an enthusiastic cook produced two meals a day. Morris carried on painting and became an internationally renowned plantsman. The school's peak time was in the 1940s and 1950s, when Benton End was a "powerhouse of art and literature, good food and lively conversation". Ronald Blythe
described it as "robust and coarse, and exquisite and tentative all at once. Rough and ready and fine mannered. Also faintly dangerous." It stopped really functioning as a school in the 1960s
Benton End was run on very idiosyncratic lines without any formal teaching. Rather, it was an environment in which artists could explore their potential. It was based upon the `free rein' approach of French academies which both artists had enjoyed while living in Paris in the 1920s. Instruction was kept to a minimum, the atmosphere being more that of a family of artists striving for a common cause.
, students of the school include Maggi Hambling
, David Kentish
, Bettina Shaw-Lawrence
, Lucy Harwood, Joan Warburton, Glyn Morgan, Valerie Thornton and top legal scholar Bernard Brown.
Cedric Morris
Sir Cedric Lockwood Morris, 9th Baronet was a British artist, art teacher and plantsman. He was born in Swansea but worked mainly in East Anglia...
and Arthur Lett-Haines
Arthur Lett-Haines
Arthur Lett-Haines , known as Lett Haines, was a British painter and sculptor who experimented in many different media, though he generally characterised himself as "an Engish surrealist". He was part of a London artistic circle, which included D. H...
in East Anglia in 1937. It was run on very idiosyncratic lines based upon the "free rein" approach that was then current in French academies. It had a great influence on many Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
artists and made an important contribution to art teaching in the east of England for forty years.
Foundation
The school was founded by Morris and Lett-Haines on 12 April 1937 in an old house in the centre of DedhamDedham, Essex
Dedham is a village within the borough of Colchester in northeast Essex, England, situated on the River Stour and on the border of Essex and Suffolk...
, Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
. In addition to the proprietors, there was a third teacher Ian Brinkworth a secretary, model and one student when it opened. By December 1937 there were 60 students and the school held its first exhibition. The school was described in a prospectus as "an oasis of decency for artists outside the system". Lett-Haines taught theory, whereas Morris taught by encouragement and example. Lucian Freud
Lucian Freud
Lucian Michael Freud, OM, CH was a British painter. Known chiefly for his thickly impasted portrait and figure paintings, he was widely considered the pre-eminent British artist of his time...
was among the earliest students joining at the age of seventeen in 1939.
Benton End
In July 1939, the Dedham building was destroyed by fire. The traditionalist local artist Alfred MunningsAlfred Munnings
Sir Alfred James Munnings KCVO, PRA was known as one of England's finest painters of horses, and as an outspoken enemy of Modernism...
had himself driven round its smoking ruins gloating at the destruction of what he saw as a dangerously radical tendency. Undisturbed, Morris told the students draw the burnt-out wreck and arranged emergency facilities in a local pub. Towards the end of 1939 Lett and Cedric discovered Benton End, a rambling 16th-century house with gardens, on the outskirts of Hadleigh in Suffolk. This allowed the artists to live and run their school and also accommodate their students in one place. Previously Morris and Lett-haines had lived at Pound Farm in Suffolk, and students were disposed about in lodgings. Lett was the 'father' of the community, in charge of its daily administration and as an enthusiastic cook produced two meals a day. Morris carried on painting and became an internationally renowned plantsman. The school's peak time was in the 1940s and 1950s, when Benton End was a "powerhouse of art and literature, good food and lively conversation". Ronald Blythe
Ronald Blythe
Ronald Blythe is an English writer and editor, best known in his native England for his Akenfield: Portrait of an English Village , a portrait of agricultural life in Suffolk from the turn of the century to the 1960s...
described it as "robust and coarse, and exquisite and tentative all at once. Rough and ready and fine mannered. Also faintly dangerous." It stopped really functioning as a school in the 1960s
Benton End was run on very idiosyncratic lines without any formal teaching. Rather, it was an environment in which artists could explore their potential. It was based upon the `free rein' approach of French academies which both artists had enjoyed while living in Paris in the 1920s. Instruction was kept to a minimum, the atmosphere being more that of a family of artists striving for a common cause.
Students
In addition to Lucian FreudLucian Freud
Lucian Michael Freud, OM, CH was a British painter. Known chiefly for his thickly impasted portrait and figure paintings, he was widely considered the pre-eminent British artist of his time...
, students of the school include Maggi Hambling
Maggi Hambling
Maggi Hambling CBE is an English painter and sculptor. Perhaps her best known public works are a memorial to Oscar Wilde in central London and Scallop, a 4 metre high steel sculpture of two interlocking scallop shells on Aldeburgh beach dedicated to Benjamin Britten...
, David Kentish
David Kentish
David Kentish was a British artist and actor producer.-Early life and training:David Kentish was educated at Bryanston School and trained as an artist under Sir Cedric Morris and Arthur Lett-Haines at the East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing, together with Lucian Freud and Bettina...
, Bettina Shaw-Lawrence
Bettina Shaw-Lawrence
Bettina Shaw-Lawrence also known as Betty Shaw-Lawrence, is an English 20th century figurative artist born in 1921. Though she studied painting and drawing under Fernand Léger, Cedric Morris and Arthur Lett-Haines, was mainly self-taught...
, Lucy Harwood, Joan Warburton, Glyn Morgan, Valerie Thornton and top legal scholar Bernard Brown.