Leonard Daniels (28 November 1909 – 24 February 1998) was a British artist, teacher and administrator.

Biography

Daniels was born in London and was educated at

Holloway School Beacon High is a coeducational secondary school for 11-16-year-olds in the Tufnell Park area, located in the London Borough of Islington, England. Beacon High is a member of the Islington Futures Federation of Community Schools and the Islington ...

and studied art at the

Regent Street Polytechnic The University of Westminster is a public university, public university based in London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1838 as the Royal Polytechnic Institution, it was the first Polytechnic (United Kingdom), polytechnic to open in London. The Polyte ...

and attended the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It offe ...

, RCA, between 1929 and 1932. Daniels won a prize for his portrait painting in 1932 and when he graduated from the RCA he taught at the

Clayesmore School Clayesmore School is an independent school for boys and girls, aged 2 – 18 years, in the village of Iwerne Minster, Dorset, England. It is both a day and boarding school and is a member of The Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HM ...

in Dorset. In 1936 he moved to Taunton's School in Southampton. During World War Two, Daniels taught at the Southampton School of Art. After the school received a direct hit during a day-time air raid, which killed many staff and students, it was evacuated to Winchester. Daniels was instrumental in organising the move. Daniels was a keen sportsman, but in April 1942 a fencing accident meant he temporarily lost the use of his left arm and leg and he spent over a month in hospital. The accident also meant he was deemed unfit for military service and in 1943 he was appointed Head of the Printing School at the

Leeds College of Art Leeds Arts University is a specialist arts further and higher education institution, based in the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, with a main campus opposite the University of Leeds. History It was founded in 1846 as the Leeds Schoo ...

. During the war, Daniels spent time observing the work of the

Women's Land Army The Women's Land Army (WLA) was a British civilian organisation created in 1917 by the Board of Agriculture during the First World War to bring women into work in agriculture, replacing men called up to the military. Women who worked for the ...

and submitted several watercolours of their activities to the

War Artists' Advisory Committee The War Artists Advisory Committee (WAAC), was a British government agency established within the Ministry of Information at the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 and headed by Sir Kenneth Clark. Its aim was to compile a comprehensive artist ...

, who purchased a number of them. In 1948, Daniels was appointed principal of the

Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts Camberwell College of Arts is a public tertiary art school in Camberwell, in London, England. It is one of the six constituent colleges of the University of the Arts London. It offers further and higher education programmes, including postgra ...

. At Camberwell he recruited

Gilbert Spencer Gilbert Spencer (4 August 1892 – 14 January 1979) was a British painter of landscapes, portraits, figure compositions and mural decorations. He worked in oils and watercolour. He was the younger brother of the painter Stanley Spencer. ...

, who had previously taught Daniels at the RCA. Daniels became Camberwell's longest serving principal and was responsible for recruiting several leading artists to teach, part-time, at the college. Thesse included

Edward Ardizzone Edward Jeffrey Irving Ardizzone, (16 October 1900 – 8 November 1979), who sometimes signed his work "DIZ", was an English painter, print-maker and war artist, and the author and illustrator of books, many of them for children. For ''Tim All ...

, Claude Rogers, Victor Passmore,

William Coldstream Sir William Menzies Coldstream, CBE (28 February 1908 – 18 February 1987) was an English realist painter and a long-standing art teacher. Biography Coldstream was born at Belford, Northumberland, in northern England, the second son of coun ...

and Richard Eurich. Daniels, supported by a Leverhulme bursary, spent time at the British School of Rome in 1957. Daniels was active in the National Society of Art Education and in 1965 he was elected President of the Society. Daniels retired from Camberwell in 1975, but continued to paint and, on occasion, teach part-time. Daniels died in 1998, shortly before a retrospective exhibition of his work opened at

Winchester Cathedral The Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity,Historic England. "Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity (1095509)". ''National Heritage List for England''. Retrieved 8 September 2014. Saint Peter, Saint Paul and Saint Swithun, commonly known as Winches ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Daniels, Leonard 1909 births 1998 deaths 20th-century English male artists 20th-century English painters Academics of Camberwell College of Arts Academics of Leeds Arts University Alumni of the Royal College of Art Alumni of the University of Westminster Painters from London British war artists English male painters People educated at Holloway School World War II artists