1962
With Kenneth Rowntree suceeding Gowing as Professor and following Pasmore’s departure in 1961, this decade saw the increasing influence of Richard Hamilton in teaching, more emphasis on British 20th century acquisitions and younger contemporary artists’ exhibitions.
While Evetts, McCheyne, Holland and Hodgson remained on the staff, others such as Geoffrey Dudley, Eric Dobson, Derwent Wise and later Ian Stephenson took prominent roles.
Exhibitions
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English Drawings of the 19th and 20th Centuries
May 1962English Drawings of the 19th and 20th Centuries
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Catalogue list for this exhibition of 29 drawings
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Scott Campbell: Constructions
1 - 19 May 1962Scott Campbell: Constructions
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Scott Campbell poster
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Scott Campbell leaflet
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Scott Campbell press review
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Student Summer Exhibition
27 June - 7 July 1962
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Drawing Towards Painting
29 September - 20 October 1962Drawing Towards Painting
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Letter to Rowntree from the Arts Council
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Japanese Prints
24 November - 15 December 1962Japanese Prints
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Poster for Japanese Prints
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Catalogue for Japanese Prints
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Staff / Students
1962, Leslie Lawley’s ‘A Basic Course in Art’
Lawley particularly acknowledges the impact and stimulus of the 1957 Scarborough Summer School led by Victor & Wendy Pasmore, Harry Thubron and Tom Hudson. Sir Herbert Read’s Foreword notes that where a ‘basic course’ has been put into a practice is has achieved ‘astonishing results’. Warning against possible stylistic dogmatism, he concludes ‘What the student learns in a basic course is a new language, a language of forms. It is nobody’s business to teach him what to say in this new language’.
1962, Student Summer Exhibition, catalogue
The 1962 student Summer Exhibition catalogue with annotated front page.
In 1962 the external examiners were Robert Clatworthy and William Scott.
1962, Student Summer Exhibition, press review
Scott Dobson’s reviews were nearly always very supportive of the students and he picks out several here to mention by name, while also praising the whole show as ‘indicative of thoughtful effort and sound guidance.’
1962, studio photograph
Working in three dimensions was a central part of the ‘basic course’, which placed great emphasis on spatial relations. On the left Matt Rugg, who on graduating had been taken on as a Studio Demonstrator, can be seen leading a session in the sculpture studio.
(Photographs courtesy of the National Art Education Archive, Yorkshire Sculpture Park)
1962, degree show, photograph
Derek Morris admires works in fellow student Rita Donagh’s final show.
(image courtesy of Mary Webb).
1962, staff photograph
Art Historian Ralph Holland leads Professor Kenneth Rowntree and tutor Eric Dobson up the steps from The Quadrangle to the entrance of the King Edward VII building.
(Photograph by Ralph Selby, courtesy of Mary Webb).
1962, ‘Child Art’, exhibition catalogue
Many of the artist-teachers who first conceived ‘Basic Design’ were very interested in ‘Child Art’, believing it to be produced with fewer preconceptions and greater freedom of expression than that of adults. It is interesting to note that the Advisory Committee for the touring Sunday Pictorial National exhibition of Children’s art, which toured to the Laing Art Gallery in 1962, included Herbert Read, Eduardo Paolozzi and Victor Pasmore, and the preliminary selection committee included Tom Hudson, one of the originators of the ‘basic course’.
1962, Leslie Lawley’s ‘A Basic Course in Art’ cover
Leslie Lawley’s book was one of the first widely available books to describe ‘a ‘basic course’ in art’, though he focused more on the teaching of school children than students.
Acquisitions
Study of a Nude, 1920
Mark Gertler
Mark Gertler (1891-1939) - 'Study of a Nude'.
NEWHG : D.0033. Charcoal drawing on paper purchased from Sotheby's, 1962.
Sotheby’s invoice, 1962
Mark Gertler
Invoice for the Mark Gertler drawing purchased from Sotheby’s. This acquisition would mark the start of a year of focused purchasing by Rowntree, of particularly 20th Century British drawings, which was mirrored in the exhibitions programme, with two significant displays of drawings taking place that year.
Study of a Nude, 1909
Walter Sickert
Walter Sickert (1860-1942) – ‘Study of a Nude’ 1909.
NEWHG : D.0013. Purchased from Sotheby's, 1962.
Sickert made a number of very similar studies to this one, with both a threatening male figure (eg. ‘Study for L’Affaire de Camden Town’ in the Whitworth Art Gallery), relating to a contemporary murder in Camden Town, and another with an apparently friendly female figure (eg. ‘The Conversation’ in the Royal College of Art Collection).
Standing Female Nudes, 1920
William Roberts
William Roberts (1895-1980), 'Standing Female Nudes' 1920.
NEWHG : D.0028 & NEWHG : D.0029. Pencil and watercolour drawing purchased from Sotheby's, 1962.
Sotheby’s invoice, 1962
William Roberts
Invoice from Sotheby’s, showing that the two William Roberts studies were bought at the same time as the Sickert nude (which cost considerably more).
Zwemmer Gallery invoice, 1962
Wyndham Lewis
Invoice from Zwemmer Gallery showing that the Lewis drawing was purchased for £35.
Portrait of Lady Perdita Jolliffe, 1938
Wyndham Lewis
Wyndham Lewis (1882-1957) - 'Portrait of Lady Perdita Jolliffe' 1938.
NEWHG : D.0031. Pencil and watercolour drawing on paper purchased from the Zwemmer Gallery, 1962.
Lady Perdita Jolliffe (1910–1996) was the daughter of Herbert Asquith, the Liberal Prime Minister (1908-16), in 1931 she married William Jolliffe, the 4th Baron Hylton.
Drawing for Sculpture, 1961
Eduardo Paolozzi
Eduardo Paolozzi (1924-2005) - 'Drawing for Sculpture' 1961.
NEWHG : D.0023. Ink drawing on paper, purchased from the artist, 1962.
Cover note to Paolozzi, 1962
Eduardo Paolozzi
Cover note from the University Finance Officer to Paolozzi, enclosing payment for the drawing via a cheque for £15. 15s 0. (equivalent to around £300 in 2016).
Study for Portrait VI, 1956-57
Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon - 'Study for Portrait VI' 1956-57.
NEWHG : OP.0054. Oil on canvas presented by the Contemporary Art Society, 1962.
Letter to the Contemporary Arts Society, 1961
Kenneth Rowntree
Having viewed the display of potential acquisitions at the Contemporary Art Society’s annual exhibition, Rowntree placed the Bacon at the top of his priority list to be submitted to Pauline Vogelpoel and the Committee, making his case in the context of the development of the Collection. Given the probable competition for the Bacon, Rowntree’s application can be seen as a great success, unfortunately however the potential Ben Nicholson mentioned came to nothing.