Throughout history, people have come from all over the world to London to find refuge, creative freedom and success. This inquiry will seek to answer the question of how we can use the rich multicultural history of artists coming to London, to create affective encounters in our art classroom?
The inquiry is inspired by an exhibition at the Sothebys by the same name. This quote introduces the exhibition:
'For centuries, the UK’s creative energy, cultural diversity, rich heritage and culture of patronage have acted as compelling magnets for visitors and creatives alike. The nation has long been a cultural melting-pot for artists from around the world who, in their own unique ways, have revealed with each touch of brush, the impact of the dynamic environment in which they found themselves.' - Sothebys, 2024
Barges on the Thames, André Derain (1880-1954), On view at Leeds Art Gallery.
What is it about London that shapes the global artistic language that we know about? We will focus discussions in answer to this question through the experiences of specific artists.
Monet & Mystery
Drawn by London's irresistible allure of mystery, Monet came to England. Although he lamented that initially his paintings could not be sold at auction, he wrote in a letter to a friend that "It’s enough to drive you crazy. There’s no land more extraordinary for a painter.'
Claude Monet (1840-1926), The Thames below Westminster, circa 1871. Oil on canvas. 47 x 73 cm -
[This is an excellent video and article on the subject: https://players.brightcove.net/6057940598001/default_default/index.html?videoId=6307519888112&brand=0&autoplay
The video would be a great affective encounter for a class project on this subject.]
Monet loved the Victorian and Edwardian city of London. One reason can be identified in the title of his painting: “Effet de Brume” means “fog effect”. Given the atmospheric problems of London at the time: the smog. Coal fires, industrial chimneys and belching steamers on the Thames created that misty, weird light that kept Monet coming back to the Savoy Hotel, where he first painted this view in 1904.
‘It’s the fog that gives London its marvellous breadth. Regular blocks become grandiose in this mysterious cloak.’ — Claude Monet
London today, thankfully, is not blanketed with a poisonous fog. But it is still a magical territory.
It's rivers, the Thames, Lea, Roding, Moselle and Brent, big and small flow through and beneath the city. Perhaps you can feel it, writhing beneath your feet in a city that bubbles with life.
On top of them, the buildings: two thousand years of buildings with stone and concrete and glass and steel fingers all reaching eagerly for the sky or spreading as best they can to do battle with the other buildings for prime adoration, demanding our fervent attention.
Besides, them, covering 47% of London are the parks and forests and green spaces. This Green has survived the encroachment of concrete even as the Three Cities of London, Westminster and Southwark, stretched out their limbs into that space. Imagine the powerful entities that must live in such Green, faeries and elves perhaps from the druidic times even before the Celts. There are woods in London that have been there for over ten thousand years.
It's this hidden allure of mysterious magic that has attracted artists. 'The reason that these artists came to England is because it is an artistic, welcoming and diverse cauldron where magic happens. It is crucial to recognise multicultural diversity and its influence on art and culture.' Chloe Stead, Assistant Editor at Frieze.
Bowling & Bridges
England is at a crossroads between Europe and further countries.
Born in British Guiana, Sir Frank Bowling came to the UK in 1953 and graduated from the Royal College of Art. He studied alongside David Hockney and Kitaj, but he was already recognised in the 60s as being a visionary painter. He continues to work passionately to this day at the age of 90 and reflects on a lifetime of building bridges in London.
Bowling was very inspired by artists at the time that he had networked with through London. He was influenced by the painter Francis Bacon, with whom he was friends. Like Bacon, Bowling's work tended towards thickly applied paint layers of earthy toned paint.
Bowling is open about his inspirations and views collaboration in a unique way, as if building bridges to the lands and artistic languages of wealth of people whose artistic spirit where in London at the same time as he was.
Collaboration for Bowling are partnerships that offer a chance to develop new creative processes; he never tells a collaborator what to do or think, but rather sees their actions as part of the interplay, the push and pull, between improvisation and control.
Considering art as a language or art as communication, this may be a creative way to ask students to open up and engage in abstract art. What does a painting look like that is a conversation between two students.
For this to work, tell students that they may only communicate through the artwork, creating a bridge between their psyches.
There are many ways that these conversations may happen. whether two students engage on one cavas, or whether they swap canvases every couple of minutes. You could even engage the whole class, passing their artwork to the left when completing their contribution.
Tell students they must 'respond' to other students and not 'correct' any decisions made, to be respectful to other students and their artwork while also leaving their own creative marks.
To focus engagement, consider using creative single-word prompts, these should be focussed, but not so specific that students feel there is a right/wrong way to paint it. For example: 'satisfaction' rather than 'perfectly ordered dominoes', or 'denial' rather than 'a rejected proposal'.
Adundo & Amity
Dame Magdalene Adundo is a Kenyan-born British Studio Potter who studied at Cambridge School of Art and continued to study traditional pottery techniques in Nigeria with famed Nigerian potter Ladi Kwali who had several big exhibitions in London. She didn't speak Nigerian and so Adundo is quoted to have said that they communicated through smiles, learning with and from one another.
Adundo's Artwork exhibit modern vessels that exude a rich cultural past, representing a mixing of culture.
Her work has a very anthropomorphic or personal element, such that each work appears as a bust and shoulders some even with almost a face to greet and speak to, commanding your attention.
Just as the introduction of languages disrupted construction at the tower of Babel, so too can it be an interesting disruptor in the classroom. Disruption can be understood as a deviation from an intended goal/effect, and when this disruption is caused by another, we can view this instead as the impression of collaboration. It is an interesting challenge to consider how we can reframe disruption in the classroom into something positive.
One activity, may be to limit student language. An interesting activity I have seen includes the following:
Each student is given a different and secret prompt to complete an artwork around. One student must create a duck and another may be tasked with creating a Washing machine. Then, limit their language in some way. Either completely, enjoying a silent lesson, or make it more fun for students by allowing them to communicate only by saying a single word, e.g. 'London'. The collaboration disrupts the process, but allows the artwork to become more than the vision of any individual artist. it becomes something new, that represents the input of all its collaborators.
Auerbach & Asylum
Frank Auerbach, Self Portrait, 1958.
Auerbach is artist whom fled Germany on the kinder transport during the second world war, after both of his parents were murdered in Auschwitz. he lived in London in the same city as his aunt, his only surviving family member, whom he painted repeatedly over twenty years.
Many artists arrived in London seeking refuge, such as Gustav Metzger, Lucian Freud, Kurt Schwitters, Piet Mondrian & Max Ernst.
Upon arriving in England, Auerbach was placed in foster care with a family in Kent. He later moved to Bunce Court School in Kent, an educational institution that housed many refugee children.
Later, recognising his artistic talent, Auerbach pursued formal art education. He studied at St Martin's School of Art then at the Royal College of Art until 1955. These institutions provided him with the training and exposure to the art world that he needed.
Auerbach was influenced by his teachers and peers, including notable figures such as David Bomberg, who used expressive and impassioned painting techniques.
In the early 1950s, Auerbach established a studio in London’s Camden Town, which became his lifelong base of operations. Camden Town, with its vibrant urban landscape, provided a rich source of inspiration for his work.
Auerbach developed a distinctive style characterised by thick impasto and dynamic brushwork. His subjects included portraits of close friends and local scenes around Camden Town. His approach was intensive and often involved reworking his paintings repeatedly until he achieved the desired outcome. It is a very brave act to insist a space for figurative works in the post-war landscape. it is a catharsis that resurrects the body through art and honour its sacredness.
He participated in various group exhibitions and held solo shows. His contributions to art were recognised with several awards, including the prestigious Turner Prize in 1986.
Frank Auerbach's journey from a refugee child to a celebrated artist in London is a testament to his resilience and dedication to his art and also the opportunities available to all in London. His experiences as a refugee undoubtedly shaped his perspective and fuelled his creative expression.
Artist Johann Zoffany was asked in Florence about his nationality by Joseph II, he responded that he had been born in Ratisbon, "...but I am an Englishman, because in that country I found protection and encouragement".
The above statement would be a lovely quote to conclude this article, however, I feel it must be accompanied by the following information about the artist.
Zoffany was a German neo-classical painter who was mainly active as an artist in England, where he became a royal Academician. Later in his life, when returning to England from India, he was shipwrecked off the Andaman Islands. The survivors held a lottery in which the losing sailer was eaten. Since, Zoffany has been described as having been "the first and last Royal Academician to have become a cannibal".
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