Friday 22 January 2016

Harry Thubron OBE 1915-1985.


                                      

I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say that the British Art School system is the best, most extensive, and the most comprehensive in the world. Much of the responsibility for this is due to the gentleman above.

Harry Thubron was a revolutionary in the world of art education. He re-organised the whole fabric of how 'art' is taught. It was Harry who introduced the idea of a 'Foundation Course', to give students the widest possible introduction to all branches of the art world over the period of one year, before they finally chose what subject they wanted to study at degree level.

On my own Foundation Course I studied everything from welding, to pottery, to plastic vacuum moulding, to woodwork, to graphic design, to using all sorts of dangerous machinery, and just about everything else you can think of. It was a wonderful year of discovery before finally deciding which discipline I wished to study for the following three years.

Prior to Thubron, Art Schools were places where one sat, day in day out, bored out of your mind, drawing from classic Greek sculpture, or life models.

Whilst teaching at Leeds College of Art between 1955-64, Thubron totally changed all that, introducing a quasi-Bauhaus philosophical attitude to painting and sculpture, which soon spread to all other UK colleges.

So I must thank Mr Thubron retrospectively. Without him I would never have learned oxy-acetylene welding, how to transform lumps of stone into shaped lumps of stone, or even how to develop and print my own photographs.

Thank you Sir; I salute you!


26 comments:

  1. Alas,sadly Mr Thubron's revolution bypassed the College of Art where I spent the equivalent of a two year Foundation Course, before going on to 'specialise'. I well remember the sheer boredom of interminable Life Drawing classes, and the "dirty old men" (sorry, but it's true) who attended them - not an art lover amongst them. Oh, the heady exhilaration of being allowed out into the "world" to sketch in the local town! This was in the early 60's, so I don't suppose radical ideas had filtered through. It's a wonder any of us managed to stay the course.

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    1. I think his influence only really spread country-wide after the mid-60's. You missed his great leap forward by a whisker.

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  2. My Foundation Year was very similar to yours and in many ways the best year of my art education, especially for learning anything. The next five years were a great experience too but more left to myself and finding my own way through, if you know what I mean.

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    1. How I wish I'd been allowed to do that. All thoughts and ideas were "moulded" by our tutors - can't remember us being allowed to go our own "way", so no chance of self-expression. If it wasn't in the curriculum,(no doubt set by the local authority), then forget it. Most of the tutors seemed very old, just waiting for retirement and didn't seem to have an original thought between them.

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  3. It sounds a bit like the old occupational therapy courses which were based on experiential learning about meaning behind activity rather than a focus on the theory.

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    1. Thubron was a lateral thinker who also believed in Stream of Consciousness working.

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  4. Now that sounds like an interesting year to have had. I didn't go to college but did start an Open University Degree in Science when I was in my forties. The foundation course covered biology, physics, earth sciences, and chemistry. My views on the world were forever changed after that. I never did finish the degree because I prefer to think of myself as a student rather a graduate, and have developed a thirst for learning which keeps my head young!

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    1. I like the idea of feeling more like a student than a GRADUATE. The learning goes on.

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  5. My two year foundation course at Derby (1962-64) was just as you described Cro. I learnt all sorts of skills, many of which I have utilised over the years. I was also introduced to some amazing literature, though I can't remember the name of the module that included this. Unfortunately, due to family problems I was not able to finish my degree, but would have pursued sculpture if I had, which I never would have thought about without Foundation. I studied wood carving under Ron Pope and stone and metal under a guy called David Bennett (?)
    Thanks for this post Cro. I have never heard of this guy, but he clearly influenced our course.
    Gosh, I'm fired up now and want to write about all the skills I learnt!
    Gill

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    1. It's amazing the things we learnt on our Foundations years. It was also amazing to see young girls handling dangerous welding kit without a care in the world.

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  6. Having gone to a very academic school in the 60's, who were not at all interested in art and did nothing to help me get to Art school, I am a little envious of you all !!!!!! They did let some of us go to Hornsey Art School on Saturday mornings in our early teenage years but then they left us high and dry and really discouraged us !! , BUT, I never look back and had a great time, so I have no regrets.
    A fine tribute to Mr. Thubron .... he paved the way to make sure that you got a great foundation. XXXX

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    1. I was also at a highly academic school (I was a Latin Scholar), but in their wisdom they also had a fabulous Art Dep't, which slowly became my second home.

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    2. Ah .... and there's the rub Cro. My friend, the potter, who went to Farnham, went to an East End Comprehensive that had a wonderful art department. XXXX

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    3. My schooling, too, was highly academic, and Art was something not to be encouraged - just a nod to it in passing. I remember being the only one to take A levels in the subject - what a fuss it caused !

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    4. Exactly like my school Coppa ..... I think that they only had it on the curriculum because it was obligatory !!!!! XXXX

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  7. I rather like the general idea of a foundation course in the dark arts of commerce and government. Had I gone on a foundation course I would never have started off in accountancy as I did (lasted several months) and might well have found something which would have captured my imagination much earlier.

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    1. My late father studied Accountancy, but didn't practice it.

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  8. It is a long time since I heard anything said about Mr Thubron - a great asset to Art it seems to me Cro.
    Incidentally, I was looking at some Miro on somebody's blog the other day and it made me think of the art you posted the other day done by those two elderly ladies. Great similarity I thought? Would you agree?

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    1. No doubt both ladies studied Miro, and one never knows when influences reappear. Of course it could just be coincidence.

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    2. I like Miró's work and think he makes much better use of colour than the two ladies you mentioned in your earlier blog Cro. I found their work sadly lacking in colour - particularly the lady who painted like a young child. Children have such a wonderful way of splashing colour around with sheer exuberance. This was sadly lacking in both those ladies' paintings. As we get older, perhaps we become more afraid to use bright colours - a reflection on the way we see the world perhaps?

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    3. Rose is not afraid of anything Coppa.

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    4. I'm very glad to hear that, Rachel. I'd like to see some of her more colourful work - will have another look.

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  9. Thank you for acquainting me with Harry Thubron and his contributions. I feel quite envious of folks who were exposed to art foundation courses like yours.

    Best wishes.

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    1. In art education, the Foundation Course is the fulcrum.

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  10. I was a student of Harry Thubron's at Leeds and certainly wouldn't have recognised him from the photo that you've posted! I came to the art school from a small private girls' school and the sense of freedom was exhilarating. In our first year we were joined by design and architecture students. I went on to study fine art and learnt to grind my own pigments and make and temper my chisels in the foundry under the watchful eye of Harry Philips. Thubron's son, Pip also studied at the art school but I haven't heard anything of him since. They were very happy and creative years and provided the means to a career that I loved.

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