Guest
Curator’s talk : “Maurice de Sausmarez 1915-1969' exhibition”
Stanley
& Audrey Burton Gallery, University of Leeds
20th
January 2016
 |
| Whitelocks pub, Leeds, by de Sausmarez |
A delightful and insightful talk by Dr Hilary
Diaper, former curator of the gallery, and guest curator of the exhibition to
celebrate the Centenary of de Sausmarez’s birth. De Sausmarez is probably best
known for his influential 1964 publication, “Basic Design : The Dynamics of
Visual Form”. However, he was a skilled artist as well as art educator, as Dr
Diaper was at pains to point out. She found that Maurice never threw anything
away, and working with his widow, Jane, she investigated manuscripts and papers
as well as drawings and paintings to uncover new information about the life of
this artist who had a profound effect on art education in Leeds.
De Sausmarez had a colourful early life, born in Sydney to
English parents. The family subsequently moved to Grenada but he and his mother
returned England at the age of 5 after the sad death of his father, presumed
killed by a shark during his daily swim. In his late teens he studied the
traditional disciplines of drawing and composition whilst a student at Willesden
Art School, and subsequently was accepted into the Royal College of Art. He
became active in the Artists’ International Association, a political movement
for artist, becoming its chair in the 1940s. Through this his interest in art
education was born. The association’s political side fuelled his interest in
mural paintings, which gave rise to a number of murals on bomb-site hoardings.
De Sausmarez married and moved to Sheffield to
teach art, but then moved back to London for health reasons. However, he was
lured back North with an appointment as the Head of the School of Painting at
Leeds College of Art in 1947. Interested in art education, he persuaded the
College authorities to also appoint Harry Thubron, the innovative design .
In the early 1950s the College’s near-neighbour,
the University of Leeds was unreceptive to the idea of Fine Art as an academic
discipline, particularly as the thrust of de Sausmarez’s pedagogy was to allow
people to be creative and to promote art in the community (here I was put in
mind of Bob & Roberta Smith in the present day). However, the University
was eventually won over and it established a series of arts and humanities fellowships,
the Gregory fellowships, and poached de Sausmarez as its first Head of Fine Art.
He headed up a department that consisted of himself teaching one module on the
History of Art as part of the General BA course.
In order to overcome the resistance to Fine Art as
an academic subject, de Sausmarez produced articles and organised exhibitions. He
also arranged visiting lecturers and worked closely with the Gregory Fellows to
promote the Arts within the institution. Initially there was no idea of studio practice
within the University’s view of Fine Art, but de Sausmarez set about
dismantling this view by introdcuign up a studio. However, he left in 1959
before the teaching of practice began, and his place was taken by Quentin Bell.
The first BA in Fine Art was finally offered in about 1962. De Sausmarez had
left his mark on Leeds.
He went back to London, where he was appointed at
Hornsey School of Art, where his contemporaries included Bridget Reilly and
John Hoyland. Shortly after this appointment, new education legislation led to
the introduction of a Diploma in Art & Design which was contrary to his way
of thinking. Maurice’s way was to “look first, then create, then look at other
artists”. He left Hornsey and went to a private school, Byam Shaw, in
Kensington, where his pupils included James Dyson (whom he allegedly told to go
into technical drawing as a career). Here the way of educating was much less
restrictive and de Sausmarez encouraged his students to “see”, not to judge
right or wrong. His influence was so strong that the Diploma in Art &
Design board eventually invited him to join them, as an exercise in damage
limitation. I appreciated his message of finding your own way and being
creative in your own way; such important advice.
He died in 1969, leaving a widow and three young
children. His students and other staff members organised an exhibition to form
a trust fund for his family. Contributors included Bridget Reilly.
Impressions of a quick visit to the gallery
afterwards to see some of de Sausmarez’s work:
-
Some everyday scenes
- Excellent use of light and levels of detail
- Sketches, gentle outlines
- Abstracts, cubism
- Quite angular stroke style
- Pastel colours
- Interpretation of one subject in various different ways.
A final note : Pride of place in the gallery goes to a painting
of the Whitelocks pub in Leeds. That was
evidently where all the Gregory Fellows went! See the image above.
Additional
information from Windsor (n.d.).
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