‘Reforming Academicians’, Sculptors of the Royal Academy of Arts, c.1948-1959 by Melanie Veasey Doctoral Thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of Doctor of Philosophy of Loughborough University, September 2018. © Melanie Veasey 2018. For Martin The virtue of the Royal Academy today is that it is a body of men freer than many from the insidious pressures of fashion, who stand somewhat apart from the new and already too powerful ‘establishment’.1 John Rothenstein (1966) 1 Rothenstein, John. Brave Day Hideous Night. London: Hamish Hamilton Ltd., 1966, 216. Abstract Page 7 Abstract Post-war sculpture created by members of the Royal Academy of Arts was seemingly marginalised by Keynesian state patronage which privileged a new generation of avant-garde sculptors. This thesis considers whether selected Academicians (Siegfried Charoux, Frank Dobson, Maurice Lambert, Alfred Machin, John Skeaping and Charles Wheeler) variously engaged with pedagogy, community, exhibition practice and sculpture for the state, to access ascendant state patronage. Chapter One, ‘The Post-war Expansion of State Patronage’, investigates the existing and shifting parameters of patronage of the visual arts and specifically analyses how this was manifest through innovative temporary sculpture exhibitions. Chapter Two, ‘The Royal Academy Sculpture School’, examines the reasons why the Academicians maintained a conventional fine arts programme of study, in contrast to that of industrial design imposed by Government upon state art institutions for reasons of economic contribution. This chapter also analyses the role of the art-Master including the influence of émigré teachers, prospects for women sculpture students and the post-war scarcity of resources which inspired the use of new materials and techniques. Chapter Three, ‘The Royal Academy as Community’, traces the socialisation of London-based art societies whose memberships helped to identify sculptors for potential election to the Royal Academy; it then considers the gifting of elected Academicians’ Diploma Works. The empirical mapping of sponsorship for elected sculptors is investigated to determine how the organic profile of the Royal Academy’s membership began to accommodate more modern sculptors and identifies a petition for change which may have influenced Munnings’s speech (1949). Chapter Four, ‘The Royal Academy Summer Exhibitions’, explores the preparatory rituals of the Selection and Hanging Committees, processes for the selection of amateurs’ works, exhibit genres and critical reception. Moreover it contrasts the Summer Exhibitions with the Arts Council’s ‘Sculpture in the Home’ exhibition series to identify potential duplications. Chapter Five, ‘Sculpture for the State’, considers three diverse conduits facilitating the acquisition of sculpture for the state: The Chantrey Collection administered by the Royal Academy and exhibited at the Tate Gallery; the commissioning of Charles Wheeler’s Earth and Water (1951–1953) for the new Ministry of Defence, London; and the selection of Siegfried Charoux’s The Neighbours (1959) for London County Council’s ‘Patronage of the Arts Scheme’. For these sculptures, complex expressions of ‘Britishness’ are considered. In summary this thesis argues that unfettered by their allegiance to the Royal Academy of Arts its sculptors sought ways in which they might participate in the unprecedented opportunities that an expanded model of state patronage presented. Preface Page 8 Preface The inspiration for this thesis began with the illustrated catalogue for the ‘Open Air Exhibition of Sculpture’ at Battersea Park in 1948 which presented an unequivocal contrast between traditional and modern sculptures. This exhibition inspired the subject of my Master’s thesis Humanising the Landscape: The outdoor placement of twentieth-century sculpture and its aesthetic impact upon the viewer (2014). Subsequently, as a volunteer at the Henry Moore Foundation, I began to reflect further upon how the nascent Arts Council and the post-war British Council privileged the work of modern artists including Henry Moore and the New Aspects sculptors; this prompted my curiosity about those who were seemingly excluded. My ideas began to coalesce around the possibility of whether there was an alternative scholarly narrative to the established discourse on post-war state patronage, and if so, who were the leading protagonists and how might they have accessed new opportunities for state patronage. Therefore, when analysing the institutions and sculptors who were apparently marginalised, I began to explore how the Royal Academy and its sculptors, had responded to the modernising influence of state patronage and its contemporaneous effects upon British sculpture. Commencing the research for this thesis, I had anticipated that, given the longevity of the Royal Academy, an extensive and robust scholarly corpus of publications would be extant. However, to date there are remarkably few publications in contrast with those narratives which chart the concept, development and history of post-war state patronage. The Royal Academy archive proved to be a bountiful resource although at the beginning of my research it was infrequently accessed for subjects later than 1945. With the celebration of its two-hundred-and-fiftieth anniversary in 2018, interest in the Royal Academy has grown due to the agency of the incumbent Royal Academy Council who have secured funds and have overseen the completion of a significant programme of building works for new educational facilities, exhibition galleries and social spaces, suggesting the possibilities for a metamorphosis of a ‘new Royal Academy’. The Royal Academy has also recently partnered with the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art which inspired art historians to contribute to a digital resource, The Royal Academy Summer Exhibition: A Chronicle 1769–2018, leading to a surge in academic interest in this institution. To this project I have contributed essays on Arnold Machin’s Spring (1947), Siegfried Charoux’s The Pedestrian (1951) and Maurice Lambert’s Dame Margot Fonteyn de Arias (1956). My research has also led to the presentation of conference papers for the Paul Mellon Centre and the Henry Moore Institute together with a forthcoming article in the Sculpture Journal. The submission of my thesis is therefore timely and is intended to contribute to new thinking about the post-war narrative of the Royal Academy, some of its sculptors and their engagement with the Keynesian model of state patronage. Preface Page 9 Acknowledgements Many people have contributed their unreserved support and the generosity of their time to assist my research and in so doing made the experience meaningful, informative and rewarding. They include Academicians, academics, curators, museum staff, members of the PMSA and private collectors. Notably Bill Woodrow RA for his candid insights into the display of sculpture at the Summer Exhibitions and Anthony Gormley RA who generously permitted the Courtauld ‘Sculpture Processes Group’, including myself, to view a scale model for his 2019 exhibition at the Royal Academy. Special thanks are due to the staff of the Royal Academy and in particular to the Archivist, Mark Pomeroy, without whose assistance this thesis would lack the depth and quality of research that I was able to undertake, also to MaryAnne Stevens for her inspirational comments. Additionally, thanks are due to Jennifer Camilleri; Karine Sarant-Hawkins; Tania Moore; Andrew Potter; Miranda Stead; Helen Valentine and Adam Waterton; members of the Henry Moore Institute especially Clare Mayoh, Rebecca Wade and Jon Wood and members of the Henry Moore Foundation particularly Emma Stower. The Henry Moore Foundation kindly provided a grant which enabled me to visit the archive of the Henry Moore Institute in Leeds to research the papers of Frank Dobson, Alfred Hardiman, Gertrude Hermes, Gilbert Ledward and Charles Wheeler. This significantly enhanced my understanding of each artist’s legacy. Importantly Gregor-Anatol Bockstefl, Manager of the Langenzersdorf Museum, Austria, has provided significant support both during my visit to the Charoux Collection and throughout our ongoing correspondence and meetings. The research staff of Tate Britain and the British Library are also offered my appreciation. My thanks are also extended to the staff of the Doctoral College of the University of Loughborough and more widely Joanna Barnes; Neil Bingham; Jonathan Black; Ruth and Mark Beedle; Robert Burstow; Jonathan Cable; Katie Campbell; Paul Capewell; Lisa Cole; Cathy Corbett; Sarah Crellin; Nicola Day; Jessica Feather; Joy Fleischmann; Emma Fleming; Margaret Garlake; Mark Hallett; Jenny Hand; Sarah MacDougall; Ben Read (1945–2016); Philip Ward- Jackson; Alexander Massouras; Anna Meadmore; Dawn Pereira; Jenny Powell; Kirsten Simister; Oliver Teale; Christian Waltl; Karen Waddell and Timothy Wilcox. Sincere thanks are offered to my supervisors Professor Alison Yarrington and Dr Julia Kelly for their guidance, support and good humour which made the researching and writing of the thesis so thoroughly enjoyable. Colin, Maria, Sylvia, Clare, Isabella, Melissa, Nicholas, Natasha and Nathan have inspired my commitment and my deepest thanks are offered to my husband Martin for his patience, kindness and unfailing encouragement. Abbreviations Page 10 Abbreviations The following are the abbreviations used throughout this thesis to denote the referenced archives, councils,