Peter Collis

Back in the 1940's Peter Collis was a friend and fellow student in the Juniors Department Camberwell School of Arts. I greatly admired his work and thought he was really talented. Recently I came across a folder with some of his sketches mixed in. I tried to find out what happened to him but search results reveal a more well known Peter Collis, but not this Peter Collis who went on to the Slade from Camberwell. Last time I saw him he had the opportunity to visit Africa with a friend from the Slade. 

Here's a little nod to Peter....we often used our fellow students as subject matter...

Martin Bloch 1883 - 1954

Before there are none of us 'old Camberwellians' left I wanted to write something about one of my favourite Camberwell teachers.  I was 16 years old in 1949 when the German expressionist painter, Martin Bloch arrived to teach at Camberwell School of Art having fled Nazi Germany. His warm European, ebullient manner was instantly popular among students who were missing recently departed inspirational tutors; John Minton (for the Royal College) and William Coldstream (for the Slade). Martin was unlike other teachers in that he didn't hold with the traditional barriers between student and teacher and where other teachers could be rather stiff and formal with students Martin encouraged debate, he told us things about his life, having rubbed shoulders with Edvard Munch as a student in Berlin  and we felt we could argue with him freely without repercussion. One example was over the Hollywood film 'Julius Caesar'. We students applauded Marlon Brando's performance whereas Martin argued for a more classical actor. Martin had a great sense of humour and made us laugh when he made fun of other teachers who could be very strict, though it probably didn't help with other staff who could be rather hostile. Martin had a huge impact on me with his painting style, he greatly encouraged imaginative ideas and colour (rich but subdued shades) liberated from tonal contrasts. A painting made in the 1960s directly influenced by him that has remained a favourite is Shad Thames.

Shad Thames by Terry Scales

Sadly by the time I came out of RAF service Martin had died. 

To find out more about Martin Bloch's life and see some of his beautiful work visit The Martin Bloch Trust. Here you can see work from the different periods of his life from the ominous 1930's paintings from Germany and Italy (where in 1933 he was declared a degenerate artist), the poignant painting from being interned as an enemy alien at the start of the war, through to being commissioned by the Ministry of Information to document London's war damage and later his stunning works from his travels through America and England and Wales. Martin's work is held in a number of public collections including; The Tate Gallery, Government Art Collection, Leicester Arts and Museums Service, Leeds Museums and Galleries, the Ben Uri Gallery amongst many others.

The Mississippi at Minneapolis by Martin Bloch

    

Mr Seargent

I spent some time this afternoon looking through old notebooks with my daughter. We came across some photos of my favourite Camberwell Art School model. I met Mr Seargent in the early 1960's, he was walking down Peckham High Street with 2 heavy bags of shopping. I asked him if he would like any help carrying them and he said he wouldn't as he didn't have far to go. We fell into conversation as we were walking along and found that we got on well together. I asked him if he would consider being a model for art students and, surprisingly, he agreed. This is one of the first modelling sessions we had...

Dick Lee 1923 - 2001

My daughter asked me about this small model I have in my studio. Dick Lee was a very talented colleague of mine at Camberwell School of Art and he frequently made models of tutors as gifts. This uncannily realistic model of me was made in the 1970's. I had just bought some glass from Peckham Glass for a student project, hence the sheets of glass I am carrying. I saw many of his models over the years and they were full of carefully observed detail that related to the person and their interests, often in very creative compositions. It's been great fun having this model to keep me company all through the years! Sadly Dick died in 2001 but you can find out more about him from this obituary in The Guardian.

Gordon Scott 1914 - 2016, a personal tribute.

I first met Gordon in my first term at Camberwell School of Art in 1946. I was then only 13 years of age. His duties were to teach the Junior Department the history of architecture from the Roman times onward. His first lessons were drawing on a blackboard plans and profiles of various buildings, many from the Gothic period. In later terms he escorted us to view and draw many of the Wren churches in the City. Owing to the flattened spaces caused by the Blitz, our views of Wren edifices were mostly uninterrupted. The City itself was quite silent. In correcting our sketches, Gordon's ability to sum up the structure of a church in a few swift lines greatly impressed his pupils and he became quite popular.

Ten years passed before I met Gordon Scott again. My first teaching engagement at Camberwell was to be his assistant on his drawing classes around the City. Having had the benefit of Gordon's wisdom in my teenage years, I relished the opportunity of working together, since much of what he taught me previously had inspired a life-long interest in architecture and I was now quite knowledgeable.

Throughout our long period as colleagues, as with other staff members, I had never seen any of Gordon's paintings. He did show regularly in the Royal Academy Summer Shows, but many of us despised and refused to visit the Academy. It therefore came as a shock when in 2017 the Abbott and Holder Gallery held a large retrospective of his work. Like many others I was utterly astonished at the brilliance of his paintings. The portraits in particular were very fine and I am emboldened to suggest that all those intense studies of architectural forms strengthened his sense of structure regarding the human form. It is gratifying that his life's work is now being appreciated. I am only sorry it didn't happen in his lifetime.