Tom Hudson (July 3, 1922 – December 27, 1997) was a British artist and lecturer. He created sculptures using modern materials such as perspex and resin and considered that Art could be a means of changing society. His greatest influence was on Art teaching. He was a foremost proponent of the

Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the , was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined Decorative arts, crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., ...

concept of teaching Art and Design by Basic Design, taking that principle to Art Colleges across the UK in the 1950s, 60s and 70s. This came to be the Art foundation course which provide an holistic grounding for Art and Design students before taking higher education qualifications.

Early career and artistic influences

Tom Hudson was born in

Horden Horden is a village and Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom, electoral ward in County Durham, England. It is situated on the North Sea coast, to the east of Peterlee, approximately 12 miles south of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, S ...

County Durham County Durham, officially simply Durham, is a ceremonial county in North East England.UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne an ...

into a working-class family with strong socialist ideals. He went to Hartlepool's Henry Smith Grammar School and developed an interest in Art while undertaking National Service overseas. He attended Sunderland School of Art, teacher training at King's College, Newcastle then studied 20th Century Art at the Courtauld Institute, London. During this time he was influenced by

Herbert Read Sir Herbert Edward Read, (; 4 December 1893 – 12 June 1968) was an English art historian, poet, literary critic and philosopher, best known for numerous books on art, which included influential volumes on the role of art in education. Read wa ...

and the Constructivist and

de Stijl De Stijl (, ; 'The Style') was a Dutch art movement founded in 1917 by a group of artists and architects based in Leiden (Theo van Doesburg, Jacobus Oud, J.J.P. Oud), Voorburg (Vilmos Huszár, Jan Wils) and Laren, North Holland, Laren (Piet Mo ...

movements, particularly with the concepts of Education through Art. His first permanent teaching post was as painting master at Lowestoft School of Art in 1951. Hudson's interest and research into

children's art Child art is drawings, paintings, or other artistic works created by children. It has been used as a therapeutic tool by psychologists and as an ethnographic tool to further understand children of the past. Within developmental theory, the art ...

brought him into contact with

Victor Pasmore Edwin John Victor Pasmore, Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour, CH, CBE (3 December 190823 January 1998) was a British artist. He pioneered the development of abstract art in Britain in the 1940s and 1950s. Early life Pasmore was bo ...

and Harry Thubron who were developing courses inspired by Bauhaus Basic Design.

Later life

In 1957 Hudson moved to a post in Leeds College of Art where he helped to develop the content of Basic Design courses further. He not only taught students, but also ran summer schools for secondary school Art teachers in Scarborough and Barry with his colleague Harry Thubron. He progressed to become Head of Foundation Studies at Leicester College of Art. During the early 1960s he had become a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

consultant, advisor to the Brazilian Government on Art Education and lecturing worldwide. However, in 1964 he was appointed to Cardiff College of Art as Director of Studies where he took the unusual step of bringing his staff and best students from Leicester to Cardiff. Under his control Cardiff College of Art become globally renowned for its radical teaching programmes. He left Cardiff in 1977 to become Dean of Education at Emily Carr College of Art and Design in Vancouver. His belief that ordinary people should be able to understand the artistic, scientific and technological advances of the 20th Century led him to make the television programmes Mark and Image(1988) and Material and Form (1991) which won awards in North America. He was first and foremost an educator rather than a practitioner, retiring in 1987

References

External links

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Obituary: Tom Hudson
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hudson, Tom 1922 births 1997 deaths British painters British sculptors 20th-century British painters 20th-century British sculptors British art educators