Founded in 1854 as the Lambeth School of Art, the City and Guilds of London Art School is a small specialist art college located in central London, England. Originally founded as a government art school, it is now an independent, not-for-profit charity, and is one of the country's longest established art schools. It offers courses ranging from art and design Foundation, through to BA (Hons) undergraduate degrees and MA

postgraduate Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate ( bachelor's) degree. The organization and ...

courses in fine art, carving, conservation, and art histories. In addition, it offers the only undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in Britain in stone and wood carving: historic architectural stone and ornamental woodcarving and gilding. The Art School is housed in a row of Georgian buildings in London's Kennington district, as well as in an adjoining converted warehouse building close to the south bank of the river Thames.

History

Foundation in the 19th century

The City and Guilds of London Art School was founded in 1854 by the Reverend Robert Gregory under the name Lambeth School of Art. It began as a night school in rooms occupied during the day by a National School in his south London parish of St Mary the Less. With the support of Henry Cole Director of the South Kensington Museum, who supplied Gregory with teachers, the school flourished and became a leader in the provision of instruction in applied art and design to working artisans, many of whom were employed by local manufacturing firms, including Doulton's and

Farmer and Brindley Farmer & Brindley was a firm of architectural sculptors and ornamentalists based in London, founded by William Farmer (1825–1879) and William Brindley (1832–1919) The firm, located on Westminster Bridge Road in Lambeth, south London, flour ...

. The rapid expansion of the school led to the need for new premises, and in 1860 Albert, Prince of Wales (Edward VII) laid the foundation stone for new premises in Millers Lane, built on the site of the

Vauxhall Gardens Vauxhall Gardens is a public park in Kennington in the London Borough of Lambeth, England, on the south bank of the River Thames. Originally known as New Spring Gardens, it is believed to have opened before the Restoration of 1660, bein ...

as part of a redevelopment that included St Peter's church. The buildings are still standing, although the road is now called St Oswald's Place.

Development under John Sparkes

In 1857 John Charles Lewis Sparkes started teaching at the art school, soon becoming its Headmaster. Under Sparkes City and Guilds of London Art School was at the forefront of opposition to the monopoly claimed by the Royal Academy of Arts on the teaching of fine art practices, particularly drawing from the human figure. An attempt had been made to resolve this conflict in 1852, with the introduction by the British Government of the National Course on Instruction for art and design education, which was in effect a national curriculum for art training. This allowed for some elements of drawing to be taught, but within a broader curriculum that stressed the teaching of techniques to aid workers in artisan manufacturing industries rather than the training of artists. In the case of City and Guilds of London Art School it was suggested at the time that Sparkes was ignoring the National Course on Instruction and teaching his students to be fine artists, particularly in 1865, when students from the art school won three medals at the annual awards handed out by the Royal Academy of Arts, and again in 1867 when its students won three out of ten of the gold medals for art awarded by the Government, along with four silver medals awarded annually by the Royal Academy of Arts, and a bronze medal at the International Exposition held that year in Paris. Certainly Sparkes and his colleagues at City and Guilds of London Art School ignored the general prohibition on life drawing being taught outside the Royal Academy of Arts, and the success of Sparkes's students at City and Guilds of London Art School in fine art competitions can be traced to this willingness by Sparkes to ignore regulations he believed were wrong. This radicalism in Sparkes can also be seen in his concern for the art and design tutors working both at City and Guilds of London Art School and elsewhere in Britain. In the 1860s a block grant was given by the British Government to the South Kensington Government School of Design for teachers' pay and this was then redistributed to other art schools across the country. As well as being widely considered an insufficient sum in the first place, the Government School of Design was accused by people such as Sparkes of holding on to too much of the money leading to the payment of what were called starvation wages at other art schools. Sparkes, in particular, was instrumental in campaigning for an increase in these wages, through both direct appeals to parliament and the establishment of the first national union of art teachers, the Association of Art Masters, in 1863.

Connection to Doulton's Pottery, Farmer and Brindley and other companies

Recognising the limitations of government patronage of art schools, Sparkes cultivated a number of connections between the City and Guilds of London Art School and local manufacturing industries which would lead ultimately to City and Guilds of London Art School attaining the independent status it has today. One of the most notable of these was with Henry Doulton whose pottery factory, later known as Royal Doulton, was located near to the City and Guilds of London Art School. In 1863 Doulton joined the school's board of management and the following year he gave the school its first commission, for a terracotta frieze for his factory's new extension. Following on from this Doulton was a strong supporter and promoter of the art school's activities, including exhibiting experimental works by students at the 1867 Paris Exhibition and at the 1871 London Exhibition. From about 1869, Doulton and his staff helped the art school to develop a curriculum that trained students for the pottery trade, and to carry out design work for Doulton. This collaboration provided Doulton's with a supply of higher-quality artwork for its trade, and gave students at Lambeth School of Art employment opportunities, and many noted English modellers and sculptors of the late nineteenth century owe their careers to this partnership. The close connection between the art school and Doulton's meant that the ethos of City and Guilds of London School of Art was based, from very early days, on a belief in a strong connection between the fine arts, craft and design. Consequently, its students and teachers became associated with the Arts and Crafts movement, and to some extent the Art Nouveau movement. In addition to Doulton's, Sparkes also cultivated contacts with other local craft trade companies, one of the most notable of which was Mssrs Farmer and Brindley, a Lambeth-based architectural stone carving and terra-cotta company. As with Doulton's, a number of apprentices at Farmer and Brindley augmented their training with study at the Art School. This included the sculptors Charles John Allen (1862–1956), Harry Bates (1850–1899) and Nathaniel Hitch (1846–1936), and others, who became prominent sculptors in the Victorian and Edwardian periods. Individuals from other companies were also involved in teaching at the art school, most notably John Henry Dearle in the 1880s, who was one of the chief designers for

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He w ...

and Morris and Co.

City and Guilds Institute and City Livery Companies

In 1878 Sparkes secured funding in the art school of the newly founded

City and Guilds of London Institute The City and Guilds of London Institute is an educational organisation in the United Kingdom. Founded on 11 November 1878 by the City of London and 16 livery companies – to develop a national system of technical education, the institute has ...

which also ran one of the precursor institutions to

Imperial College London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

, the CGLI Central Technical College. The new backing secured the financial future of the art school without the strings attached to government funding. Under the new arrangement, the art school moved to new buildings in Kennington Park Road in Lambeth, which it still occupies, and was renamed the South London Technical School of Art. In 1932 it changed its name to the City and Guilds of London Institute Kennington and Lambeth Art School, reflecting the historical and continued support of the city of London Livery Companies. This was shortened in 1938 to the City and Guilds of London Art School. The formal link between the parent body, the City and Guilds Institute, and the City and Guilds of London Art School was ended in 1971, when the art school became and independent trust.

20th and 21st centuries

Graduates of the Art School were involved in some of the leading social and political movements of the early twentieth century, including

Clemence Housman Clemence Annie Housman (23 November 1861 – 6 December 1955) was an author, illustrator and activist in the women's suffrage movement. She was the sister of A. E. Housman and Laurence Housman. Her novels included ''The Were-Wolf'', ''Unknown Se ...

and

Laurence Housman Laurence Housman (; 18 July 1865 – 20 February 1959) was an English playwright, writer and illustrator whose career stretched from the 1890s to the 1950s. He studied art in London. He was a younger brother of the poet A. E. Housman and his s ...

, who co-founded, in 1909, a society for artists who supported the

Suffragette Movement A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for women's suffrage, the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in part ...

, called the Suffrage Atelier.

later went on to found the radical bookshop, which still bears his name, located in Caledonian Road, near London's King's Cross railway station. After the Second World War, new restoration and carving courses were established at the Art School to train people for the restoration of London's war-damaged buildings. However, during the 1960s the art school also developed a fine art programme, although it still maintained and strengthened its programmes in restoration and carving. This resulted in the Art School evolving into both a school for fine art education, and a unique specialist training centre for the education of restorers and conservators of architectural stone and wood work. In 1971 the Art School became an independent charitable trust, with the new Deed of Incorporation signed by Geoffrey Agnew (chairman of the art gallery Thomas Agnew & Sons), Sir Colin Skelton Anderson (Provost of 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 ...

), Sir John Betjeman (poet), Adrian Maurice Daintrey (artist), Gilbert Samuel (Lord Mayor of London), Charles Wheeler (sculptor and Former President of the Royal Academy), and Carel Weight (artist), amongst others. Support also came from artists such as Henry Moore and Graham Sutherland. In 1997 and 1998 the Fine Art Painting, Sculpture and Conservation courses were validated at undergraduate BA (Hons) level. In 2000 the MA course in Fine Art was validated by the University of Central England (now Birmingham City University). CIty and Guilds of London Art School

In a 2008 letter to the Observer newspaper and Art Monthly by Graham Crowley, former Professor of the Royal College of Art, the City & Guilds of London Art School's Fine Art Department was singled out for its "magnificent job" in "maintaining the transformative power and joy of education through art". In 2009 Booker Prize shortlisted writer

Tibor Fischer Tibor Fischer (born 15 November 1959) is a British novelist and short story writer. In 1993, he was selected by the literary magazine Granta as one of the 20 best young British writers while his novel '' Under the Frog'' was featured on the Book ...

became the Royal Literary Fund writing fellow at the City and Guilds of London Art School. In April 2011 the magazine

Modern Painters ''Modern Painters'' (1843–1860) is a five-volume work by the Victorian art critic, John Ruskin, begun when he was 24 years old based on material collected in Switzerland in 1842. Ruskin argues that recent painters emerging from the tradition o ...

surveyed art world professionals to create a list of the top ten British art schools, resulting in the City and Guilds of London Art School coming third after the Royal College of Art and the Royal Academy. Since 2018 art school's undergraduate and postgraduate degree courses have been validated by Ravensbourne.

Current departments

The current Principal, since 2014, is artist and educationalist Tamiko O’Brien. The Foundation Department is led by the artist Keith Price. The department teaches the UAL Foundation Course syllabus to prepare students to make applications to undergraduate art and design programmes at universities and art schools. Other tutors include Kim Amis, Andrea Barber, Niamh Clancy, Gary Colclough, Alex Hough, Lucy Le Feuvre, Nicholas Middleton, Daniel Mifsud, Emma Montague, Jacky Oliver, and Sage Townsend. The Fine Art Department is led by artist

Robin Mason Robin Mason (born 1958) is a British painter born in Porthcawl, South Wales. He is head of BA and MA painting at City and Guilds of London Art School Founded in 1854 as the Lambeth School of Art, the City and Guilds of London Art School is a ...

and consists of BA (Hons) Fine Art, GradDip Arts: Fine Art and MA Fine Art. A range of contemporary artists teach at the Art School including Andy Bannister, Kiera Bennett, Teresita Dennis, Kate Dunn,

Andrew Grassie Andrew Grassie (born 1966) is a Scottish artist. Grassie paints highly detailed and self-referential tempera on paper copies of photographs. He was educated at St Martins School of Art and the Royal College of Art.) is the American owner of a c ...

, Jane Hayes Greenwood,

James Jessop James Jessop (born 1974) is a British contemporary artist. He trained at The Royal College of Art (RCA) and Coventry University. He lectures at City and Guilds of London Art School. His work is influenced by early New York City Subway art and ...

, Reece Jones, Hugh Mendes, Alex Gene Morrison, Kate Palmer, Charley Peters, Candida Powell-Williams, Frances Richardson, Jack Southern, Amikam Toren, and Tom Worsford. The Carving Department consists of DipHE/BA (Hons) Carving: Woodcarving & Gilding, DipHE/BA (Hons) Carving: Architectural Stone, Graduate Diploma Arts: Carving and PgDip/MA Carving. The Department is led by Heather Newton who, for over 30 years, built an extensive career in stone masonry and conservation at Canterbury Cathedral. Heather is supported by professional carvers in stone and wood including Tom Ball, Nina Bilbey, Mark Frith, Paul Jakeman, Richard Kindersley, Tom Merrett, Ghislain Puget, Robert Randall, and Tom Young, alongside Kim Amis who teaches modelling and Diane Magee who runs ''the Drawing Studio''. The Conservation Department led by Dr Marina Sokhan, comprises DipHE/BA (Hons) Conservation: Books & Paper, DipHE/BA Conservation: Stone, Wood & Decorative Surfaces, GradDip Arts: Conservation and MA Conservation. The Department has a number of specialist tutors including Gerry Alabone ACR, Kim Amis, Louise Ashon, Abigail Bainbridge ACR, Sophie Barton ACR, Peter Bennett, Amanda Brannan, Dr Tracey Chaplin, Edward Cheese ACR, Sarah Davis, Jennifer Dinsmore ACR, Rosella Garavaglia, Judith Gowland ACR, Christopher Harvey, Sarah Healey-Dilkes ACR, Hugi Hicyilmaz, Joel Hopkinson, Rian Kanduth, Katy Lithgow ACR, Dr Naomi Luxford ACR, Dana Melchar, Bridget Mitchell ACR, Richard Nichols ACR, Dr David Peggie, Cheryl Porter, Dr Joanna Russell ACR, Alex Schouvaloff, Alison Seed ACR, Vanessa Simeoni ACR, Victoria Stevens ACR, Shaun Thompson, and Piers Townshend ACR. The Art Histories Department is led by Thomas Groves and is home to MA Art & Material Histories as well as providing art historical, contextual and theoretical instruction to students in all the practical departments at the Art School. In addition to Thomas Groves, tutors include Dr Oriana Fox, John Goodall, Viv Lawes, Dr Nigel Llewellyn, Dr Michael Paraskos, Jaimini Patel, Harrison Pearce, Dr Matthew Rowe, Dr Jon Shaw, Dr Rebecca Sykes, and Laura White. The Art School works with a network of institutions and individuals, including the

Victoria & Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

, the

Museum of London The Museum of London is a museum in London, covering the history of the UK's capital city from prehistoric to modern times. It was formed in 1976 by amalgamating collections previously held by the City Corporation at the Guildhall Museum (fou ...

, the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

and Tate Modern.

Notable alumni

* William Affleck *

C. J. Allen (sculptor) Charles John Allen (2 September 1862 – 1956) was a British sculptor, and a figure in the New Sculpture movement. Biography Born in Greenford, Middlesex, Allen studied at the Lambeth School of Art and then apprenticed with the London architectu ...

* John Angel (sculptor) * Hannah Barlow * Harry Bates A.R.A. (sculptor) * Sarah Beddington (artist and filmmaker, 1990–1993) * Eva Benson (sculptor) * Edmund Blampied (1903–04) * Frank Bowling * John Broad *

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 ...

Neave Brown Neave Brown (22 May 19299 January 2018) was an American-born British architect and artist. He specialized in modernist housing. Brown is the only architect to have had all his UK work listed:Elizabeth HopkirkNeave Brown becomes first architect ...

(architect) *

George Edmund Butler George Edmund Butler ( – ) was a landscape and portrait painter specialising in oils and watercolours. Born in England, his family emigrated to New Zealand when he was 11 years old. After completing his schooling, he studied art at the Welli ...

* Lindsay Butterfield * Ernest Stafford Carlos * Florence Castle * Lauren Child (author and illustrator, 1980s) * Nancy Cadogan (painter, 2000s) * Corinne Cuéllar-Nathan (artist) *

Claire Dalby Joy Claire Allison Dalby (born 20 November 1944) is a British artist and book illustrator who mainly depicts botanical subjects and who works in watercolours, gouache and wood engraving. Biography Dalby, whose father was the respected watercolo ...

(botanical artist) * William Reid Dick * Frank Dobson (sculptor) R.A. (1912) * Amy Drucker *

Ruth Duckworth Ruth Duckworth (April 10, 1919 – October 18, 2009) was a modernist sculptor who specialized in ceramics, she worked in stoneware, porcelain, and bronze. Her sculptures are mostly untitled. She is best known for ''Clouds over Lake Michig ...

* Roberta Everett *

Stanhope Forbes Stanhope Alexander Forbes (18 November 1857 – 2 March 1947) was a British artist and a founding member of the influential Newlyn school of painters. He was often called 'the father of the Newlyn School'.R.A. (Newlyn School painter) * Richard Foster R.P. (painter, 1960s) * George Frampton R.A.(sculptor) *

William Silver Frith William Silver Frith (1850–1924) was a British sculptor. Frith graduated from the Lambeth School of Art and the Royal Academy Schools, and became assistant to Jules Dalou. By 1880 Frith had succeeded Dalou as master at the newly formed South ...

* William Henry Gore (1877) * Tapfuma Gutsa (artist, 1980s) * Christiana Mary Demain Hammond * Daniel Hopwood * Marguerite Horner (artist, 2000s) *

(writer, illustrator and leading Suffragette) *

(writer and illustrator) *

Alexis Hunter Alexis Jan Atthill Hunter (4 November 1948 – 24 February 2014) was a New Zealand painter and photographer, who used feminist theory in her work.Gifford, Adam"Feminist art buys a fight" '' The New Zealand Herald'', 4 April 2007. Retrieved 26 Fe ...

(artist, 1970s) * Goscombe John R.A. (sculptor) * Eric Kennington * Henry Herbert La Thangue * May Bridges Lee (1900s, portrait artist and miniaturist) * Farid Mansour (painter, sculptor 1929–2010) * Robert Wallace Martin * Martin Brothers (potters) *

Jim Mathieson (sculptor) James William Mathieson (21 June 1931 – 12 April 2003) was a sculptor from the United Kingdom. Mathieson was born in Calcutta, India, but moved with his family to Scotland in 1947. As a young adult, he completed national service, then worked in ...

(1960s) * Adeline de Monseignat *

Paul Raphael Montford __NOTOC__ Paul Raphael Montford (1 November 1868 – 15 January 1938) was an English-born sculptor, also active in Australia; winner of the gold medal of the Royal Society of British Sculptors in 1934.Jenny Zimmer,Montford, Paul Raphael (1868– ...

* Ben Moore (curator) *

Thomas Sturge Moore Thomas Sturge Moore (4 March 1870 – 18 July 1944) was a British poet, author and artist. Biography Sturge Moore was born at 3 Wellington Square, Hastings, East Sussex, on 4 March 1870 and educated at Dulwich College, the Croydon School o ...

(1887) * Harold Nelson (illustrator) *

Karen Newman Karen Newman is a professional singer based in Detroit, Michigan and was the anthem singer of the Detroit Red Wings for more than 30 years. Biography Newman was raised in the Michigan towns of Rochester and Grand Blanc, and was a 1978 gradu ...

(sculptor) *

Will Owen (illustrator) Will Owen (1869 – 14 April 1957) was an English book illustrator, cartoonist, caricaturist and a commercial and poster artist, possibly best known for his iconic images of the Bisto Kids, Bovril, Lux and Lifebuoy. He received his art training a ...

Glyn Philpot Glyn Warren Philpot (5 October 188416 December 1937) was a British painter and sculptor, best known for his portraits of contemporary figures such as Siegfried Sassoon and Vladimir Rosing. Early life Philpot was born in Clapham, London, but ...

R.A. * F.W. Pomeroy R.A. (sculptor) *

Henry Poole (sculptor) Henry Poole (28 January 1873 — 15 August 1928) was a British architectural sculptor.

(1888) * Vivien ap Rhys Pryce (sculptor) *

Arthur Rackham Arthur Rackham (19 September 1867 – 6 September 1939) was an English book illustrator. He is recognised as one of the leading figures during the Golden Age of British book illustration. His work is noted for its robust pen and ink drawings, ...

(illustrator 1880s) * Leonard Raven-Hill (illustrator) * Charles Ricketts (1882) * Calvin Russell * Charles Haslewood Shannon R.A. (painter) *

Allan Sly Allan Sly FRBS (born 1951) is an English sculptor and senior lecturer at Wimbledon College of Art, a constituent college of University of the Arts London. Sly was elected a Fellow of the Royal British Society of Sculptors in 1992. Early life ...

F.R.B.S. (sculptor, 1970s) * Sybil Tawse (painter) *

George Tinworth George Tinworth (5 November 1843 – 11 September 1913) was an English ceramic artist who worked for the Doulton factory at Lambeth from 1867 until his death.'George Tinworth', Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain and Ir ...

(ceramic artist) * Harry Watson (artist) * Annie Williams R.W.S. R.E. (painter, 1960s) * Stephen Wiltshire

M.B.E. Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

(artist, 1990s) * Flora Yukhnovich

Notable teachers and lecturers

* Basil Beattie * Kiera Bennett * Ralph Beyer * Emma Biggs *

Sonia Boyce Sonia Dawn Boyce, (born 1962) is a British Afro-Caribbean artist and educator, living and working in London. She is a Professor of Black Art and Design at University of the Arts London. Boyce's research interests explore art as a social practic ...

MBE * Rodney Joseph Burn R.A. * James Butler ( R.A. sculptor) * Philip Connard * Matthew Collings * Aimé-Jules Dalou (1870s) * Sir Roger de Grey R.A. (Principal 1973–95, President of the Royal Academy) *

Bernard Dunstan Bernard Dunstan (19 January 1920 – 20 August 2017) was a British artist, teacher, and author, best known for his studies of figures in interiors and landscapes. At the time of his death, he was the longest serving Royal Academician. Life an ...

( R.A. painter) *

RLF Writing Fellow 2009 * Elizabeth Fitzgerald (Principal) *

Charles Sargeant Jagger Charles Sargeant Jagger (17 December 1885 – 16 November 1934) was a British sculptor who, following active service in the First World War, sculpted many works on the theme of war. He is best known for his war memorials, especially the Royal ...

* Jasper Joffe * Alfred Garth Jones * Reece Jones (artist) * Michael Kenny R.A. (Principal 1995–1999) * Jane Langley * Ben Levene ( R.A. painter) *

Hew Locke Hew Donald Joseph Locke (born 13 October 1959) is a British sculptor and contemporary visual artist based in Brixton, London. In 2000 he won a Paul Hamlyn Award and the EASTinternational Award. In 2010 he was shortlisted for the Fourth plinth ...

* Alex Gene Morrison * Gavin Nolan
Dick Onians
* Michael Paraskos *

Benedict Read Benedict William Read, BA, FSA (26 March 1945 – 20 October 2016) was an English art historian. Usually known as Ben Read, he was the author of numerous books, essays and articles on nineteenth and twentieth century art history, and was one ...

* Charles Ricketts
John Roberts
* John Charles Lewis Sparkes * William Wheeler

References

External links

Website of City and Guilds of London Art School

GSA's Mapping Sculpture Entry for the Art School

{{DEFAULTSORT:City And Guilds Of London Art School Educational institutions established in 1854 Art schools in London Higher education colleges in London Education in the London Borough of Lambeth 1854 establishments in England Kennington Arts organizations established in 1854