A Lesson in Art and Life: The Colourful World of Cedric Morris and Arthur Lett-Haines - Softcover

St Clair, Hugh

Softcover

ISBN 10: 191490205X ISBN 13: 9781914902055

Publisher: Pimpernel Press Ltd, 2023

Synopsis

Cedric Morris (1889–1982) and Arthur Lett-Haines (known as Lett) (1894–1978) were an extraordinary couple who were at the centre of the Modern British art scene and were hugely influential across the spheres of gardening and cookery as well as art.

After studying in Paris in the 1920s, they moved to London, where they gave fabulous parties attended by the cream of creative London. Morris became a sought-after painter of flowers, birds and landscapes, while Lett was hailed as Britain’s first Surrealist. Together they founded the East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing at Benton End in Suffolk, attended by Lucian Freud and Maggi Hambling, where the atmosphere was described as “robust and coarse, exquisite and sensitive all at once, also faintly dangerous”. Lett ran the school and was a superb cook who swapped recipes with Elizabeth David. Cedric Morris became an award-winning plantsman and poppy and iris breeder. He was an acknowledged influence on many gardeners, including Beth Chatto.

This biography, revised and updated in this paperback edition, is a fascinating portrait of a unique couple who were hugely influential across the spheres of gardening and cookery as well as art.

About this title

About the Author

Hugh St Clair is an experienced arts and design journalist with work published in numerous British and international magazines and newspapers. He has edited and written four books on paintings including three Miller's Guide to Art and Buying Affordable Art.

Edition details

• Publisher: Pimpernel Press Ltd
• Publication date: 2023
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 191490205X
• ISBN 13: 9781914902055
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 216