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Eric Newton (1893–1965) was an English artist, writer, broadcaster and art critic. He produced several books in addition to his newspaper and radio work and created mosaics for Ludwig Oppenheimer Ltd, mostly on a religious theme. His radio broadcasts made him well known to the British public in the 1930s.


Career

After gaining a BA from
Manchester University , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...
in 1913, he worked as a designer at Ludwig Oppenheimer Ltd, the
mosaic A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...
firm founded by his grandfather and based in Old Trafford, Manchester. His work, and that of the Oppenheimer firm is still to be seen in several churches in Britain and Ireland. He took part in the Paris exhibition in 1925. He is best known as an art critic and writer. He was appointed art critic of the Manchester Guardian in 1930, although he had provided copy for that paper for some years prior to this. He was art critic for
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...
for three years from 1947, and wrote frequently for ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' , ''Time and Tide'' magazine and
ArtReview ''ArtReview'' is an international contemporary art magazine based in London, founded in 1948. Its sister publication, ''ArtReview Asia'', was established in 2013. History Launched as a fortnightly broadsheet in February 1949 by a retired country ...
Newton delivered radio lectures on art, notably the 1935
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
12 part series "The Artist and his Public" subsequently turned into the first of several books. and took part in the radio arts series ''The Critics''. In this programme, his Times Obituary states "his lucidity and critical sense were trenchantly displayed". The Oxford Dictionary of Art describes him as "a clear and polished writer and also an articulate lecturer and radio broadcaster". These broadcasts made his name well known and local newspaper archives reveal that Newton was clearly in demand, delivering public lectures across the country in the late 1930s and 1940s. Newton undertook lecture tours to North America in 1937, 1953 and 1956, the 1937 tour of Canada was sponsored by the
National Gallery of Canada The National Gallery of Canada (french: Musée des beaux-arts du Canada), located in the capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, is Canada's national art museum. The museum's building takes up , with of space used for exhibiting art. It is one of the ...
. His diary of this tour was subsequently published (see below). The 1956 tour included the Memorial University of Newfoundland where he lectured on modern art. A photograph exists in the university archives. Newton was lecturer in art history at the Central School of Art and crafts from 1963. His MA, completed in 1951 at Manchester was on the subject of the renaissance artist
Tintoretto Tintoretto ( , , ; born Jacopo Robusti; late September or early October 1518Bernari and de Vecchi 1970, p. 83.31 May 1594) was an Italian painter identified with the Venetian school. His contemporaries both admired and criticized the speed wit ...
, and was subsequently published in 1952 as a book. Newton was
Slade Professor of Fine Art The Slade Professorship of Fine Art is the oldest professorship of art and art history at the universities of Cambridge, Oxford and University College, London. History The chairs were founded concurrently in 1869 by a bequest from the art collect ...
at
Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
in 1959 and art adviser to the
Commonwealth Institute The Commonwealth Education Trust is a registered charity established in 2007 as the successor trust to the Commonwealth Institute. The trust focuses on primary and secondary education and the training of teachers and invests on educational pro ...
from 1960 to 1963. He was president of the British Section of the
International Association of Art Critics The International Association of Art Critics (''Association Internationale des Critiques d’Art'', ''AICA'') was founded in 1950 to revitalize critical discourse, which suffered under Fascism during World War II. Affiliated with UNESCO AICA was ad ...
between 1949 and 1961. While he left the family firm, he continued to create mosaics for much of his life, those in the side chapels of Sacred Heart Church Sheffield being installed in 1961. The
Courtauld Institute of Art The Courtauld Institute of Art (), commonly referred to as The Courtauld, is a self-governing college of the University of London specialising in the study of the history of art and conservation. It is among the most prestigious specialist coll ...
holds many designs of Newton Mosaics and theatre set designs in its Stella Newton Archive.


Personal life

Newton was born in 1893 to Lehmann James Oppenheimer and Edith née Newton. His mother was from
Heaton Mersey Heaton Mersey is a suburb of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. It is situated on the north-western border of Stockport, adjacent to Didsbury and Burnage in Manchester. Heaton Mersey is a mostly residential area and commuter zone for Manche ...
. In 1908 he was awarded a Foundation Scholarship to
Hulme Grammar School Oldham Hulme Grammar School, formerly Hulme Grammar School, is a private grammar school in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. History Oldham Grammar School was founded in 1611 by several charitable individuals including Laurence Chadeton, b ...
from Hulme's Charity. After graduation from Manchester University, he served in the army during the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, joining the
Manchester Regiment The Manchester Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1958. The regiment was created during the 1881 Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 63rd (West Suffolk) Regiment of Foot and the 96th ...
as a 2nd Lieutenant from the Manchester University Contingent of the
Officer Training Corps The Officers' Training Corps (OTC), more fully called the University Officers' Training Corps (UOTC), are military leadership training units operated by the British Army. Their focus is to develop the leadership abilities of their members whilst ...
on 14 November 1914. He was promoted to temporary captain in September 1915. His medal card suggests he served in France and was awarded the Victory Medal and
British War Medal The British War Medal is a campaign medal of the United Kingdom which was awarded to officers and men of British and Imperial forces for service in the First World War. Two versions of the medal were produced. About 6.5 million were struck in si ...
. His father (also a mosaic manufacturer in the family firm) served as a lieutenant in the London Regiment ( Artists' Rifles) and died in 1916 having been gassed. Lehmann is buried in the Boulogne Eastern Cemetery (Grave ref VII. B. 11.). Though the London Gazette records the recruitment of "Eric Newton Oppenheimer", and promotion of "Eric N. Oppenheimer", it was after the war that he formally changed his name from Oppenheimer to his mother's maiden name of Newton, the latter sounding less German. He married his first wife, Isabel Aileen Vinicombe on 29 November 1915 at the Church of St James, Birch in
Rusholme Rusholme () is an area of Manchester, England, two miles south of the city centre. The population of the ward at the 2011 census was 13,643. Rusholme is bounded by Chorlton-on-Medlock to the north, Victoria Park and Longsight to the east, F ...
,. the couple divorced in 1934 after which Newton married the fashion designer Stella Mary Pearce. The couple moved to London, living at 3 Cumberland Gardens. Newton died in his London office in 1965.


Publications

* * * * * * * * * * (with William Neil) * (with John Batts, Editor)


Mosaic works


St John the Baptist, Rochdale.
Sanctuary and Apse. * Sacred Heart Church, Hillsborough. Apse and side-chapels * Our Lady and St Edward, RC Church, Chiswick *
Honan Chapel The Honan Chapel (, formally Saint Finbarr's Collegiate Chapel and The Honan Hostel Chapel) is a small Catholic church built in the Hiberno-Romanesque revival style on the grounds of University College Cork, Ireland. Designed in 1914, the buil ...
, Cork *
Royal Hospital School ) , established = 1694 Royal Charter1712 Greenwich1933 Holbrook , type = Public School Independent day and boarding School Royal Foundation , founders = William III and Mary II , head = Simon Lockyer , head_labe ...
Chapel, Holbrook
Saint Colmcille's
Church, East Belfast


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Newton, Eric 1893 births 1965 deaths English art critics Mosaic artists Manchester Regiment soldiers People educated at Oldham Hulme Grammar School The Guardian journalists Slade Professors of Fine Art (University of Oxford)