Victor Pasmore
Encyclopedia
Edwin John Victor Pasmore (3 December 1908 – 23 January 1998) was a British
artist and architect. He pioneered the development of abstract art in Britain in the 1940s and 1950s.
, Surrey
, in south England
,he died in malta. He studied at Summer Fields School
in Oxford
and Harrow
in west London
, but with the death of his father in 1927 he was forced to take an administrative job at the London County Council
. He studied painting part-time at the Central School of Art and was associated with the formation of the Euston Road School
and the first post-war exhibition of abstract art
. After experimenting with abstraction, Pasmore worked for a time in a lyrical figurative style, painting views of the River Thames
from Hammersmith
much in the style of Turner and Whistler
. Beginning in 1947, he developed a purely abstract style under the influence of Ben Nicholson
and other artists associated with Circle
, becoming a pioneering figure of the revival of interest in Constructivism
in Britain following the War. Pasmore's abstract work, often in collage and construction of reliefs, pioneered the use of new materials and was sometimes on a large architectural scale. Herbert Read
described Pasmore's new style as "The most revolutionary event in post-war British art".
Pasmore was a leading figure in the promotion of abstract art and reform of the fine art education system. From 1943–1949, he taught at Camberwell School of Art where one of his students was Terry Frost
whom he advised not to bother with the School's formal teaching and to instead study the works in the National Gallery. In 1950 he was commissioned to design an abstract mural for a bus depot in Kingston upon Thames and the following year Pasmore contributed a mural to the Festival of Britain
that promoted a number of the British Constructivists. From 1952, he was leader of the art course of Kings College, Durham based in Newcastle upon Tyne
. There he developed a general art and design course inspired by the 'basic course' of the Bauhaus
that became the model for higher arts education across the UK.
Pasmore was a supporter of fellow artist Richard Hamilton
, giving him a teaching job in Newcastle and contributing a constructivist structure to the exhibition "This Is Tomorrow
" in collaboration with Ernő Goldfinger
and Helen Phillips. Pasmore was commissioned to make a mural for the new Newcastle Civic Centre
. His interest in the synthesis of art and architecture was given free hand when he was appointed Consulting Director of Architectural Design for Peterlee
development corporation in 1955. Pasmore's choices in this area proved controversial; the centerpiece of the town design became an abstract public art
structure of his design, the Apollo Pavilion
. The structure became the focus for local criticism over the failures of the Development Corporation but Pasmore remained a defender of his work, returning to the town to face critics of the Pavilion at a public meeting in 1982.
Pasmore represented Britain at the 1961 Venice Biennale
, was participating artist at the Documenta II
1959 in Kassel
and was a trustee of the Tate Gallery
, donating a number of works to the collection. He gave a lecture on J.M.W. Turner as 'first of the moderns' to the Turner Society, of which he was elected a vice president in 1975.
In the Second World War, Pasmore was a conscientious objector
. Having been refused recognition by his Local Tribunal, he was called up for military service in 1942. He refused orders and was court martialled and sentenced to 123 days imprisonment. The sentence qualified him to go to the Appellate Tribunal in Edinburgh, which allowed him unconditional exemption from military service.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
artist and architect. He pioneered the development of abstract art in Britain in the 1940s and 1950s.
Biography
Pasmore was born in ChelshamChelsham
Chelsham is a village in Surrey in the borough of Tandridge. It is within the civil parish of Chelsham and Farleigh.The village lay within the Anglo-Saxon administrative division of Tandridge hundred....
, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
, in south England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
,he died in malta. He studied at Summer Fields School
Summer Fields School
Summer Fields is a boys' independent preparatory school based in Summertown, Oxford, England.-History:Originally called Summerfield, it became a Boys' Preparatory School in 1864 with seven pupils. Its owner, Archibald Maclaren, was a fencing teacher who ran a gymnasium in Oxford; he himself was...
in Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
and Harrow
Harrow School
Harrow School, commonly known simply as "Harrow", is an English independent school for boys situated in the town of Harrow, in north-west London.. The school is of worldwide renown. There is some evidence that there has been a school on the site since 1243 but the Harrow School we know today was...
in west London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, but with the death of his father in 1927 he was forced to take an administrative job at the London County Council
London County Council
London County Council was the principal local government body for the County of London, throughout its 1889–1965 existence, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today known as Inner London and was replaced by the Greater London Council...
. He studied painting part-time at the Central School of Art and was associated with the formation of the Euston Road School
Euston Road School
The Euston Road School was a group of English painters, active in London between 1937 and 1939.William Coldstream, Victor Pasmore, Claude Rogers, Maurice Field and Graham Bell set up a School of Drawing and Painting in Euston Road in 1937; other associated artists included Lawrence Gowing, Tom...
and the first post-war exhibition of abstract art
Abstract art
Abstract art uses a visual language of form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. Western art had been, from the Renaissance up to the middle of the 19th century, underpinned by the logic of perspective and an...
. After experimenting with abstraction, Pasmore worked for a time in a lyrical figurative style, painting views of the River Thames
River Thames
The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
from Hammersmith
Hammersmith
Hammersmith is an urban centre in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in west London, England, in the United Kingdom, approximately five miles west of Charing Cross on the north bank of the River Thames...
much in the style of Turner and Whistler
James McNeill Whistler
James Abbott McNeill Whistler was an American-born, British-based artist. Averse to sentimentality and moral allusion in painting, he was a leading proponent of the credo "art for art's sake". His famous signature for his paintings was in the shape of a stylized butterfly possessing a long stinger...
. Beginning in 1947, he developed a purely abstract style under the influence of Ben Nicholson
Ben Nicholson
Benjamin Lauder "Ben" Nicholson, OM was a British painter of abstract compositions , landscape and still-life.-Background and Training:...
and other artists associated with Circle
Circle: An International Survey of Constructivist Art
Circle: An International Survey of Constructivist Art was an almost 300-page art book published in London in 1937. It was edited by the artists Ben Nicholson and Naum Gabo and the architect Leslie Martin with the layout being designed by Barbara Hepworth...
, becoming a pioneering figure of the revival of interest in Constructivism
Constructivism (art)
Constructivism was an artistic and architectural philosophy that originated in Russia beginning in 1919, which was a rejection of the idea of autonomous art. The movement was in favour of art as a practice for social purposes. Constructivism had a great effect on modern art movements of the 20th...
in Britain following the War. Pasmore's abstract work, often in collage and construction of reliefs, pioneered the use of new materials and was sometimes on a large architectural scale. Herbert Read
Herbert Read
Sir Herbert Edward Read, DSO, MC was an English anarchist, poet, and critic of literature and art. He was one of the earliest English writers to take notice of existentialism, and was strongly influenced by proto-existentialist thinker Max Stirner....
described Pasmore's new style as "The most revolutionary event in post-war British art".
Terry Frost
Sir Terry Frost RA was an English artist noted for his abstracts....
whom he advised not to bother with the School's formal teaching and to instead study the works in the National Gallery. In 1950 he was commissioned to design an abstract mural for a bus depot in Kingston upon Thames and the following year Pasmore contributed a mural to the Festival of Britain
Festival of Britain
The Festival of Britain was a national exhibition in Britain in the summer of 1951. It was organised by the government to give Britons a feeling of recovery in the aftermath of war and to promote good quality design in the rebuilding of British towns and cities. The Festival's centrepiece was in...
that promoted a number of the British Constructivists. From 1952, he was leader of the art course of Kings College, Durham based in Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
. There he developed a general art and design course inspired by the 'basic course' of the Bauhaus
Bauhaus
', commonly known simply as Bauhaus, was a school in Germany that combined crafts and the fine arts, and was famous for the approach to design that it publicized and taught. It operated from 1919 to 1933. At that time the German term stood for "School of Building".The Bauhaus school was founded by...
that became the model for higher arts education across the UK.
Pasmore was a supporter of fellow artist Richard Hamilton
Richard Hamilton (artist)
Richard William Hamilton, CH was a British painter and collage artist. His 1956 collage, Just what is it that makes today's homes so different, so appealing?, produced for the This Is Tomorrow exhibition of the Independent Group in London, is considered by critics and historians to be one of the...
, giving him a teaching job in Newcastle and contributing a constructivist structure to the exhibition "This Is Tomorrow
This is Tomorrow
This Is Tomorrow was a seminal art exhibition in August 1956 at the Whitechapel Art Gallery, facilitated by curator Bryan Robertson. The core of the exhibition was the ICA Independent Group.-History:...
" in collaboration with Ernő Goldfinger
Erno Goldfinger
Ernő Goldfinger was a Hungarian-born Jewish architect and designer of furniture, and a key member of the architectural Modern Movement after he had moved to the United Kingdom.-Biography:Goldfinger was born in Budapest...
and Helen Phillips. Pasmore was commissioned to make a mural for the new Newcastle Civic Centre
Newcastle Civic Centre
Newcastle Civic Centre is a civic centre located in the Haymarket area of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is the main administrative and ceremonial centre for Newcastle City Council. Designed by the city architect, George Kenyon, the building was completed in 1967 and was formally opened by HM...
. His interest in the synthesis of art and architecture was given free hand when he was appointed Consulting Director of Architectural Design for Peterlee
Peterlee
Peterlee is a new town in County Durham, England. Founded in 1948, Peterlee town originally mostly housed coal miners and their families.Peterlee has strong economic and community ties with Sunderland and Hartlepool.-Peterlee:...
development corporation in 1955. Pasmore's choices in this area proved controversial; the centerpiece of the town design became an abstract public art
Public art
The term public art properly refers to works of art in any media that have been planned and executed with the specific intention of being sited or staged in the physical public domain, usually outside and accessible to all...
structure of his design, the Apollo Pavilion
Apollo Pavilion
The Apollo Pavilion, also known as the Pasmore Pavilion, is a controversial piece of public art in the new town of Peterlee in County Durham in the North East of England, designed by British artist and architect Victor Pasmore.-Design and construction:...
. The structure became the focus for local criticism over the failures of the Development Corporation but Pasmore remained a defender of his work, returning to the town to face critics of the Pavilion at a public meeting in 1982.
Pasmore represented Britain at the 1961 Venice Biennale
Venice Biennale
The Venice Biennale is a major contemporary art exhibition that takes place once every two years in Venice, Italy. The Venice Film Festival is part of it. So too is the Venice Biennale of Architecture, which is held in even years...
, was participating artist at the Documenta II
Documenta
documenta is an exhibition of modern and contemporary art which takes place every five years in Kassel, Germany. It was founded by artist, teacher and curator Arnold Bode in 1955 as part of the Bundesgartenschau which took place in Kassel at that time...
1959 in Kassel
Kassel
Kassel is a town located on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Kassel Regierungsbezirk and the Kreis of the same name and has approximately 195,000 inhabitants.- History :...
and was a trustee of the Tate Gallery
Tate Gallery
The Tate is an institution that houses the United Kingdom's national collection of British Art, and International Modern and Contemporary Art...
, donating a number of works to the collection. He gave a lecture on J.M.W. Turner as 'first of the moderns' to the Turner Society, of which he was elected a vice president in 1975.
In the Second World War, Pasmore was a conscientious objector
Conscientious objector
A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, and/or religion....
. Having been refused recognition by his Local Tribunal, he was called up for military service in 1942. He refused orders and was court martialled and sentenced to 123 days imprisonment. The sentence qualified him to go to the Appellate Tribunal in Edinburgh, which allowed him unconditional exemption from military service.
Further reading
- Grieve, Alastair, Constructed Abstract Art in England: A Forgotten Avann Garde, Yale University PressYale University PressYale University Press is a book publisher founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day. It became an official department of Yale University in 1961, but remains financially and operationally autonomous....
, 2005. - Grieve, Alastair (editor), Victor Pasmore, Tate Publishing, 2010.
- Bowness, Alan and Lambertini, Luigi, Victor Pasmore, with a catalogue raisonne, Thames & HudsonThames & HudsonThames & Hudson is a publisher of illustrated books on art, architecture, design, and visual culture. With its headquarters in London, England it has a sister company in New York and subsidiaries in Melbourne, Singapore and Hong Kong...
, 1980.