Mervyn Levy (11 February 1914 – 14 April 1996) was a Welsh artist, art teacher and writer on art. Born in Swansea, where he became a friend of the painter

Alfred Janes Alfred George Janes (30 June 1911 – 3 February 1999) was a Welsh artist, who worked in Swansea and Croydon. He experimented with many forms, but is best known for his meticulous still lifes and portraits. He is also remembered as one of The K ...

, the poet Dylan Thomas and the musician Daniel Jones, he spent most of his teaching career in Bristol and London, and made several popular television series about painting techniques. He published monographs on contemporary artists, and a catalogue raisonnee of the works of his friend the painter

L. S. Lowry Laurence Stephen Lowry ( ; 1 November 1887 – 23 February 1976) was an English artist. His drawings and paintings mainly depict Pendlebury, Lancashire (where he lived and worked for more than 40 years) as well as Salford and its vicinity ...

Biography

Mervyn Montague Levy was born on 11 February 1914, in Swansea,

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

, the son of Louis Levy and Have Levy (née Rubenstein). One of his two siblings was a sister five years younger than he. When he was about seven years old he began attending Mrs Hole's preparatory school in Mirador Crescent, where he met the future poet, Dylan Thomas, with whom he would associate later as one of

The Kardomah Gang The Kardomah Gang,The Kardomah Boys, or Kardomah Group was a group of bohemian friends – artists, musicians, poets and writers – who, in the 1930s, frequented the Kardomah Café in Castle Street, Swansea, Wales. Members of the Gang ...

. When he was eight, Levy's mother died, and his father engaged a series of nurses to look after Mervyn and his siblings. Levy went to study art in London at 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 o ...

, and in 1935 won a prize for Drawing. During this period Levy shared rooms with Dylan Thomas and the painter

in Redcliffe Street, and afterwards in rooms where they were joined by the painter William Scott. A striking portrait of Levy in 1935 was made by Alfred Janes. Levy drew several portraits of Dylan Thomas. During the Second World War Levy was a Captain in the Royal Army Educational Corps.C. Levy, 'Obituary: Mervyn Levy', in ''The Independent'' (1996 May 17) After the War Levy devoted his energies first to teaching, and afterwards to writing on art. He first became an overseas lecturer on art for the War Office, in Gibraltar and Germany. On leaving the army he taught art at Bristol, at Bristol University Adult Education Department and afterwards at the Royal West of England Academy, and combined these posts with teaching at London University Department of Extra-Mural Studies. During the 1950s he presented the popular BBC television series, 'Painting for Housewives', and frequently broadcast on BBC radio and interviewed artists for BBC archives. During the late 1950s he also wrote exhibition reviews for

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 ...

, then titled Art News and Review. As a result of his teaching experience Levy began publishing on the techniques of art - ''Painter's progress'' (1954), ''Painting for All'' (1958), ''Drawing and painting for young people'' (1961), ''The Human form in art'' (1961), ''The Moons of Paradise: some reflections on the appearance of the female breast in art'' (1962), ''A Dictionary of Art Terms'' (1963), ''The artist and the nude: an anthology of drawings'' (1965), and ''Drawing and sculpture'' (1970). His interest in Art Nouveau led to the publication of his ''Liberty Style: the classic years 1898-1910'' (1986). However, he became increasingly interested in particular artists, and in the course of a distinguished career as a critic he produced monographs on ''Drawings of

'' (1963), ''The Paintings of

D. H. Lawrence David Herbert Lawrence (11 September 1885 – 2 March 1930) was an English writer, novelist, poet and essayist. His works reflect on modernity, industrialization, sexuality, emotional health, vitality, spontaneity and instinct. His best-k ...

'' (1964), ''The Paintings of L.S. Lowry: oils and watercolours'' (1975), '' Whistler lithographs: an illustrated catalogue raisonne'' (1975), ''The Drawings of L. S. Lowry public and private'' (1976), and ''

Carel Weight Carel Victor Morlais Weight, (10 September 1908 – 13 August 1997) was an English painter. Biography Weight was born in Paddington in 1908. His father was a bank cashier and his mother, who was of Swedish and German descent, was a chirop ...

'' (1986). In 1968 he, with

Pamela Hansford Johnson Pamela Hansford Johnson, Baroness Snow, (29 May 1912 – 18 June 1981) was an English novelist, playwright, poet, literary and social critic. Life Hansford Johnson was born in London. Her mother, Amy Clotilda Howson, was a singer and actress, ...

and Robert Lowell, contributed to Perry Miller Adato's documentary film, ''Dylan Thomas The World I Breathe''. In addition he wrote contributions or introductions to exhibition catalogues and studies on several artists - Frans Baljon (1948), Eva Frankfurther (1962), Gaudier-Brzeska drawings and sculpture (1965),

Horace Brodzky Horace Ascher Brodzky (30 January 1885 – 11 February 1969) was an Australian-born artist and writer most of whose work was created in London and New York. His work included paintings, drawings and linocuts, of which he was an early pioneer. An as ...

retrospective (1965), Scottie Wilson (1966), Clifford Hall (1967),

(1972), John Bignell Chelsea photographer (1983), the (Ruth) Lambert Collection (1988),

Ronald Ossory Dunlop Ronald Ossory Dunlop (28 June 1894 – 18 May 1973) was an Irish writer and painter in oil of landscapes, seascapes, figure studies, portraits and still life. Life and career Dunlop was born in Dublin, Ireland, to a Scottish-Irish Anthroposo ...

(1989?), Rabuzin (1990) and Colin Moss (1996). In 1982 he published his autobiography, ''Reflections in a broken mirror''. His pencil portrait of

LS Lowry Laurence Stephen Lowry ( ; 1 November 1887 – 23 February 1976) was an English artist. His drawings and paintings mainly depict Pendlebury, Lancashire (where he lived and worked for more than 40 years) as well as Salford and its vicinit ...

(1961), is held at the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum,

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...

.Mervyn Levy, ‘Lowry, Laurence Stephen (1887–1976)’, rev. Julian Spalding,

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2006 His strong absorption in the personalities of creative artists made Levy an excellent interviewer and raconteur. Levy married three times. He had two sons and one daughter, Maureen. He died on 14 April 1996. A portrait of Mervyn Levy by Alfred Janes (1935) is held by the

Glynn Vivian Art Gallery The Glynn Vivian Art Gallery is the public art gallery of the City and County of Swansea, in Wales, United Kingdom. The gallery is situated in Alexandra Road, near Swansea railway station, opposite the old Swansea Central Library. History The ...

, Swansea. Mervyn Levy's niece is the artist, Isa Levy.

Select Writings

* ''Painting for All'' (1958) * ''The Paintings of L. S. Lowry'' (1975) * ''Whistler Lithographs: An Illustrated Catalogue Raisonné'' (1975) * ''The Drawings of L. S. Lowry'' (1976)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Levy, Mervyn 1914 births 1996 deaths Artists from Swansea 20th-century Welsh artists Alumni of the Royal College of Art

Biography

Select Writings

Further reading

References