Harry Thubron

Although much of the art teaching that was available in Britain in the years following WWII was very traditional, certain institutions became known for their pioneering approach, and in many cases it was the drive of a single figure that led this. Thubron had already been head of Fine Art at Sunderland Art College when in 1955 he moved to Leeds. Thubron’s approach to teaching, coinciding with the early days of the Gregory Fellowships, emphasised cross-disciplinary practice and experimentation. His example was crucial to a whole generation of artists, but like many artist-teachers, the time pressures left little opportunity to build a large body of his own work. However, his qualities were very much recognised by contemporaries and his work appears in major collections such as those of the British Council, Arts Council, Tate and the Fundacio Calouste Gulbenkian.