Adrian Hill
Encyclopedia
Adrian Hill was a British artist, author, pioneering Art Therapist
, educator and broadcaster. He wrote many best-selling books about painting and drawing, and in the 1950s and early 1960s presented a BBC children's television program called Sketch Club.
, London and educated at Dulwich College
. He went on to study at St. John’s Wood School of Art, and the Royal College of Art
. From 1917-1919 during World War 1, he was an Official War Artist
on the Western Front
(his paintings and sketches from the front-line can be seen at the Imperial War Museum
, London). Adrian Hill combined his drawing abilities with his work in a Scouting and Sniping Section of the Honourable Artillery Company
; He recalled a typical patrol into No man's land
:
On returning to civilian life, Hill painted professionally, and also taught at the Hornsey School of Art, and the Westminster School of Art
. His own work combined elements of impressionism and surrealism as well as more conventional representations, and was widely displayed at major art galleries during his lifetime, both in Britain and abroad.
In 1938, while convalescing from tuberculosis
at the King Edward VII Sanatorium in Midhurst
, he passed the time by drawing nearby objects from his hospital bed, and found the process helpful in aiding his own recovery. In 1939, "Occupational Therapy
" was introduced to the sanitorium for the first time and Hill was invited to teach drawing and painting to other patients - first injured soldiers returning from the war
, and then general civilian patients. Hill found that the practice of Art seemed to help to take the patient's mind off their illness or injuries and to release their mental distress.
Hill believed that art appreciation also aided recovery from illness and was involved, with the British Red Cross Society, in setting up a scheme whereby reproductions of famous artists' works were lent to hospital wards all over the country - speakers were also engaged - including Hill himself - to talk to patients about art. The artist Edward Adamson
joined the program in 1946 as it was extended to the long-stay mental asylums, and started classes at Netherne Hospital in Surrey. Adamson continued at Netherne for 35 years, and was both a major influence on the British development of art therapy for people with major mental disorder, and also the creator of the Adamson Collection . By 1950 this picture-lending scheme had spread to nearly 200 hospitals, and there was a waiting list.
Hill worked tirelessly to promote art therapy, eventually becoming president of the British Association of Art Therapists (founded in 1964), though he found himself at odds with its increasingly psychoanalytical orientation.
" in 1942, and in 1945 published his ideas in the book Art Versus Illness. Hill thought that when the patient's physical resistance was at its lowest this somehow rendered the "animal ego" quiescent and allowed the creative powers of the "spiritual essence" to come through in works of art. On recovery, these creative powers would tend to wane back to the "pictorial commonplace." He recognised that war was not only physically destructive but also damaged "minds, bodies and hopes" and that the need for psychological healing was even more important than mere physical repair of "property and estate." He believed that the practice of art, "in sickness and in health," could turn society away from war by making artistic creativity more appreciated. He saw art therapy as becoming an integral part of the National Health Service
.
and Bradford Museum.
Art therapy
Because of its dual origins in art and psychotherapy, art therapy definitions vary. They commonly either lean more toward the ART art-making process as therapeutic in and of itself, "art as therapy," or focus on the psychotherapeutic transference process between the therapist and the client who...
, educator and broadcaster. He wrote many best-selling books about painting and drawing, and in the 1950s and early 1960s presented a BBC children's television program called Sketch Club.
Life and work
Adrian Keith Graham Hill was born in CharltonCharlton
-Places:In Australia:* Charlton, Victoria* Division of Charlton, an electoral district in the Australian House of Representatives, in New South WalesIn Canada:* Charlton, Ontario* Charlton Island, NunavutIn England:...
, London and educated at Dulwich College
Dulwich College
Dulwich College is an independent school for boys in Dulwich, southeast London, England. The college was founded in 1619 by Edward Alleyn, a successful Elizabethan actor, with the original purpose of educating 12 poor scholars as the foundation of "God's Gift". It currently has about 1,600 boys,...
. He went on to study at St. John’s Wood School of Art, and the Royal College of Art
Royal College of Art
The Royal College of Art is an art school located in London, United Kingdom. It is the world’s only wholly postgraduate university of art and design, offering the degrees of Master of Arts , Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy...
. From 1917-1919 during World War 1, he was an Official War Artist
War artist
A war artist depicts some aspect of war through art; this might be a pictorial record or it might commemorate how "war shapes lives." War artists have explored a visual and sensory dimension of war which is often absent in written histories or other accounts of warfare.- Definition and context:A...
on the Western Front
Western Front (World War I)
Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by first invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France. The tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the Marne...
(his paintings and sketches from the front-line can be seen at the Imperial War Museum
Imperial War Museum
Imperial War Museum is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. The museum was founded during the First World War in 1917 and intended as a record of the war effort and sacrifice of Britain and her Empire...
, London). Adrian Hill combined his drawing abilities with his work in a Scouting and Sniping Section of the Honourable Artillery Company
Honourable Artillery Company
The Honourable Artillery Company was incorporated by Royal Charter in 1537 by King Henry VIII. Today it is a Registered Charity whose purpose is to attend to the “better defence of the realm"...
; He recalled a typical patrol into No man's land
No man's land
No man's land is a term for land that is unoccupied or is under dispute between parties that leave it unoccupied due to fear or uncertainty. The term was originally used to define a contested territory or a dumping ground for refuse between fiefdoms...
:
"I advanced in short rushes, mostly on my hands and knees with my sketching kit dangling round my neck. As I slowly approached, the wood gradually took a more definite shape, and as I crept nearer I saw that what was hidden from our own line, now revealed itself as a cunningly contrived observation post in one of the battered trees."
On returning to civilian life, Hill painted professionally, and also taught at the Hornsey School of Art, and the Westminster School of Art
Westminster School of Art
The Westminster School of Art was an art school in Westminster, London. It was located at 18 Tufton Street, Deans Yard, Westminster, and was part of the old Architectural Museum.H. M. Bateman described it in 1903 as...
. His own work combined elements of impressionism and surrealism as well as more conventional representations, and was widely displayed at major art galleries during his lifetime, both in Britain and abroad.
In 1938, while convalescing from tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
at the King Edward VII Sanatorium in Midhurst
Midhurst
Midhurst is a market town and civil parish in the Chichester district of West Sussex, England, with a population of 4,889 in 2001. The town is situated on the River Rother and is home to the ruin of the Tudor Cowdray House and the stately Victorian Cowdray Park...
, he passed the time by drawing nearby objects from his hospital bed, and found the process helpful in aiding his own recovery. In 1939, "Occupational Therapy
Occupational therapy
Occupational therapy is a discipline that aims to promote health by enabling people to perform meaningful and purposeful activities. Occupational therapists work with individuals who suffer from a mentally, physically, developmentally, and/or emotionally disabling condition by utilizing treatments...
" was introduced to the sanitorium for the first time and Hill was invited to teach drawing and painting to other patients - first injured soldiers returning from the war
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, and then general civilian patients. Hill found that the practice of Art seemed to help to take the patient's mind off their illness or injuries and to release their mental distress.
Hill believed that art appreciation also aided recovery from illness and was involved, with the British Red Cross Society, in setting up a scheme whereby reproductions of famous artists' works were lent to hospital wards all over the country - speakers were also engaged - including Hill himself - to talk to patients about art. The artist Edward Adamson
Edward Adamson
Edward Adamson was a British artist and pioneer of Art Therapy, who has been called “the father of art therapy in Britain”.- Life and work :...
joined the program in 1946 as it was extended to the long-stay mental asylums, and started classes at Netherne Hospital in Surrey. Adamson continued at Netherne for 35 years, and was both a major influence on the British development of art therapy for people with major mental disorder, and also the creator of the Adamson Collection . By 1950 this picture-lending scheme had spread to nearly 200 hospitals, and there was a waiting list.
Hill worked tirelessly to promote art therapy, eventually becoming president of the British Association of Art Therapists (founded in 1964), though he found himself at odds with its increasingly psychoanalytical orientation.
Ideas about art therapy
Hill apparently coined the term "Art therapyArt therapy
Because of its dual origins in art and psychotherapy, art therapy definitions vary. They commonly either lean more toward the ART art-making process as therapeutic in and of itself, "art as therapy," or focus on the psychotherapeutic transference process between the therapist and the client who...
" in 1942, and in 1945 published his ideas in the book Art Versus Illness. Hill thought that when the patient's physical resistance was at its lowest this somehow rendered the "animal ego" quiescent and allowed the creative powers of the "spiritual essence" to come through in works of art. On recovery, these creative powers would tend to wane back to the "pictorial commonplace." He recognised that war was not only physically destructive but also damaged "minds, bodies and hopes" and that the need for psychological healing was even more important than mere physical repair of "property and estate." He believed that the practice of art, "in sickness and in health," could turn society away from war by making artistic creativity more appreciated. He saw art therapy as becoming an integral part of the National Health Service
National Health Service
The National Health Service is the shared name of three of the four publicly funded healthcare systems in the United Kingdom. They provide a comprehensive range of health services, the vast majority of which are free at the point of use to residents of the United Kingdom...
.
Paintings
Hill has paintings in the collection of a several British institutions including Leicester, Derby Art GalleryDerby Museum and Art Gallery
Derby Museum and Art Gallery was established in 1879, along with Derby Central Library, in a new building designed by Richard Knill Freeman and given to Derby by Michael Thomas Bass. The collection includes a whole gallery displaying the paintings of Joseph Wright of Derby; there is also a large...
and Bradford Museum.
Books by Adrian Hill (selected)
- Art versus illness ( G. Allen and Unwin, 1945)
- Painting out illness (Williams & Norgate, 1951)
- A Book of Trees (Faber and Faber, 1951)
- Sketching and Painting indoors (Blandford,1961)
- Drawing and Painting Plants and Flowers (Blandford, 1965)
- How to draw (MacMillan, 1969)
- Adrian Hill's Watercolour painting for beginners (Cassells, 1994)
- Adrian Hill's Oil painting for beginners (Cassells, 1994)
- Beginners Book of Anatomy (Dover, 2007)
- Drawing and painting trees (Dover, 2008)
Further reading
- Hogan, Susan. Healing arts: the history of art therapy (Jessica Kingsley, 2001), pp132 ff.
- Waller, Diane. Becoming a profession: the history of art therapy in Britain, 1940-82 (Routledge, 1991), pp45 ff.
External links
- Paintings by Adrian Hill (Ortoms Modern Pictures).