Page 24 - Studio International - November 1974

in twentieth-century Britain. A digest of my compared with the sample as a whole suggests all over the British Isles. Another interesting
results is given below; but first it is necessary that their absence from the foremost modern feature of the sample is the small proportion
to make some observations about the British collection is at least partly attributable born abroad (12%), whether of British or foreign
methodological problems encountered in to their relative youth. parents. Britain has a long tradition of absorbing
designing and carrying out the study. My Turning now to the art educational foreign born artists but the sample revealed
intention was to make up a sample of about experience of the sample, it was observed that little evidence that this continues to be a
a hundred successful British artists, and then in only four cases was there no evidence of significant feature of the British art scene.
to trace and tabulate their post-school art post-school art training. In another seven cases A fascinating sub-group of seven subjects had
educational experience. Clearly, the first the period was one year or less. The sample pursued a higher education in some field other
problem would be to establish a criterion of summed a total of 476 years spent in full-time than art. These included medicine (one subject),
'success' and then to apply it in an impartial art education of one kind or another, producing history (two), law (one), languages (one),
way to the total population of artists. Unlike a mean of 4.8 yrs per subject. Although a small history of art (one)and architecture (one). All
the medical profession with its Register of the proportion of the sample had had unusually but one of the sub-group had subsequent
British Medical Association there is no nationally long periods of art education — in six cases over experience in art education, though this was
recognised professional organisation which can eight years — these were not numerous enough normally brief. Four of the sample were
claim to represent artists as an occupational to skew the results for the group as a whole. graduates of Cambridge, one of Oxford and one
group, let alone distinguish the successful from The histogram of the distribution of length of of London. Only one of the sample had
the unsuccessful. Yet a selection based upon art education across the sample (Fig. 1) followed a course of practical art at a British
personal preference would prove to be arbitrary, illustrates that the majority of subjects (72%) university other than the anomalous example of
perhaps capricious, and certainly statistically spent periods of between three and seven years the Slade School. This contrasts sharply with
worthless. The criterion finally adopted was studying the subject, with a median of five America where, it has been claimed, 'a glance
that of sponsorship by national bodies through years which is significantly close to the mean.[8] through the credentials of most American
the medium of group exhibitions, and after For the purposes of comparison, in 1968 the artists will testify as to where they received
reviewing a number of likely combinations it mean length of art school attendance for DipAD their education — not at art colleges
was decided to take the total personnel leavers (fine art) was 4.26; for postgraduate but at the universities'. [10] This phenomenon
represented in three recent major national leavers in art and design it was 6.06.[9] The is partly explained by the very small
exhibitions. These were 'Recent British sample was classified by age in decades (Fig. 2), commitment to practical art in British
Painting' (Tate Gallery, 1967), 'British and this produced the significant pattern shown universities, producing as they did only 51
Sculptors 72' (Royal Academy, 1972) and in the histogram. The largest age group was graduates in 'fine art' in 1968 compared with
'The New Art' (Hayward Gallery, 1972). Taken that between thirty and forty, suggesting that 2788 leavers from other art institutions.[11]
together they yielded a manageable total sample the optimum age for success as an artist falls Only four had succeeded in evading the art
of 97 subjects. somewhere in the late thirties. Superimposed educational machine altogether.
Information retrieval proved to be a major on the histogram of age distribution is a graph It would, of course, be false to assume that
problem. The sources used included the of mean attendance at art college for each by undertaking a course of study at a college
catalogues of the three exhibitions, the Tate decade-group. The peak for the 60-70 group of art the aspirant creates for himself a high
Gallery catalogues, private and public galleries, is produced by the presence of some unusually probability of becoming a successful artist; he
monographs and college records. In the event long attendees; the dip for the 50-60 group is is merely equipping himself with an attribute
of discrepancies or obvious lacunae further probably the result of the interruption of their without which the possibility of artistic
avenues were explored, including direct contact education by the war. Apart from these success would seem to be minimal.
with the subjects, and in all but a few cases anomalies, the graph suggests that the length of
[1] Select Committee on Education and Science
these were cleared up. A useful source was the art education for successful artists is steadily 1968-1969 (Student Relations) HMSO, London
Art Information Registry, which appears to be rising. Apart from attendance at orthodox 1969 (Sub-Committee B pp.54-55).
the only organisation engaged in systematically schools and colleges of art in Britain, these [2] Madge, C. and Weinberger, B. 'Art Students
Observed', Faber, London 1973 p.75.
collecting and storing the data which I was figures take account of other modes of art
[3] Leslie, C.R. 'Memoirs of the Life of John
seeking. Although it is unlikely that further education rather more difficult to classify. The
Constable' Phaidon, London 1951 p.308.
refinement of the figures would have produced first of these comprises foreign scholarships and [4] In a letter in 'Courrier du Dimanche' Paris,
substantially different results, it should be studentships. Eleven of the sample summed Dec 29 1861; see Holt, E. 'From the Classicists to the
pointed out that the results are based upon art 21 student-years (hereafter referred to as sy) in Impressionists' New York 1966, p.351-3.
[5] See Trevor-Roper, H.R. 'Hitler's Table Talk
educational experience which has been recorded this manner, and to what extent such experience
1941-1944' London 1973 p.97 & p.371.
and can be traced. The true figures would if may be classified as analogous to art college [6] White, H.C. & White, C.A. 'Canvases and
anything be somewhat higher than those quoted training at home is a matter of opinion. Careers' Wiley, New York 1965 p.26.
below; they might also feature the smaller Secondly, a smaller group of six summed 12sy [7] Ritchie, J. et al 'The Employment of Art
provincial colleges rather more, as artists tend in some form of studio or workshop training College Leavers' HMSO, London 1972 p.13.
to forget or ignore their earlier college with an established artist; most of these were [8] The mean is arrived at by dividing the total
number of study years by the number of the sample.
experience in favour of later experience at, for sculptors.
The median is the middle term in order of magnitude
example, postgraduate schools. Only six of the The very smallness of these two sub-groups (i.e. in this sample of 97, the 49th). The fact that the
97 subjects were women, a fact which contrasts illustrates a significant change in the pattern of mean and the median are close suggests that the results
are not distorted by the presence of subjects with
strikingly with the very high proportion of girls higher art education in the present century. For inordinately long or short periods of study.
who pass through art colleges and have done so many British artists of the nineteenth century [9] Ritchie op cit p.17.
since their foundation. (We may compare this a lengthy period of study abroad was regarded [10] Dancyger, A., Art education in Canada. Letter
figure with the fact that 39% of leavers from as de rigueur, and the tradition of workshop in Studio International 185 (952) Feb 1973 p.49.
DipAD courses in fine art in 1968 were training has an even longer history both at home [11] Ritchie op cit Appendix D.
(Every effort has been made to ensure that the figures
women.[7]) All the women represented were and abroad. The decline of Paris and Rome as
quoted in this article are as accurate as possible. The
painters. Seventy-seven of the 97 subjects had artistic centres has perhaps contributed to author would be pleased to hear from any artists or
had work bought by the Tate Gallery at the Britain's increasing dependence upon indigenous colleges who can supply information relevant to the
study. Communications should be addressed to Clive
time of the study. All the remaining twenty art institutions which, since the founding of the
Ashwin, c/o Studio International Publications Ltd,
were born after 1935, and their low mean age first School of Design in 1837, have proliferated 14 West Central Street, London WC1A 1J H.)
182