NORMAN BASIL TOWN (1915-1987)

NORMAN BASIL TOWN 1915-1987

Three pictures of bomb craters by an unknown artist were accepted by the War Advisory Committee in 1943, at the height of the war. They were the work of Norman Basil Town who was then a young recruit in the Pioneer Corps, working in the Bomb Disposal unit around Wakefield, Yorkshire.

With no formal art training at that time, Town was recording what he saw. In the words of W.T.Oliver, an art critic of the time 'here was an artist of unusual sensibility' and this talent was recognised early on by Ernest Musgrave, director of the Wakefield Art Gallery, who was Town's first private collector and who decided, on his own initiative, to send the bomb crater pictures to the Committee.

Norman Town developed as an artist throughout the war years, drawing directly from his grim experiences and disappointments. Registering as a conscientious objector in 1940, he had various jobs in the Pioneer Corps, and then was sent down the mines in 1944. He notes in his journal of the time: to say that one is shocked at the crazy dangerous and unhealthy atmosphere of it all is to understate my feelings.
With a strange, repelled fascination, he drew realistic and compelling drawings of miners at work in the shafts, disused collieries and bleak industrialised landscapes that were recognised as authentic location recordings. Especially in his pictures of miners, the artist communicates a sense of shared activity with his subjects.

A key influence of this period was undoubtedly his friendship with Keith Vaughan. Throughout their extended correspondence, Town reveals a professional anxiety, mutual religious tension and a profound appreciation of music. Town writes excitedly to Vaughan about his thoughts on different artists especially Blake and Cezanne. As a man who derived immense pleasure from the landscape and sketching in the open air, he can often sound ecstatic in his descriptions to Vaughan of a particular rural scene. After the war, he went on a vigorous rediscovery of the English countryside. Travelling exhaustively often by bicycle, he filled sketchbook after sketchbook with numerous watercolour and pastel landscapes. His enjoyment of these scenes is obvious and exciting. Town places himself decisively amongst the concerns of his more famous Neo-Romantic contemporaries by the subjects of his enthusiasms. Sutherland, Craxton, Ayrton and Piper spent the war years in the British countryside and the innovation of what they produced was not lost on Town.

Town studied at the Royal College of Art between 1946-49 and despite the distraction of working for this diploma, he seems to have experienced considerable readjustment trauma in returning to 'the world outside' after the war. His most intense work dates to these years. Lone figures isolated against backgrounds of 'life carrying on as normal' feature prominently, such as in pictures like Returning Home and Man on edge of Town.

His first one-man show was in 1949 at the Haworth Gallery, Wakefield, Yorkshire. In 1950-51, he went on to exhibit with Vaughan, Minton, Colquhoun, Macbryde and Ayrton in the show of Fifteen Contemporary British Painters at Leeds City Art Gallery. Contemporary appreciation of Town is further proven by his inclusion in the 1951 London Group exhibition of War Artists at Temple Newsam, Leeds.

In the darkest hour of the war, when British morale was at its lowest, a young recruit to the Yorkshire Bomb Disposal Unit, Norman Basil Town, was keeping his own records of the war in words and pictures. Drawing directly from his own experience, he produced gritty war paintings, poems and journals. Professional recognition came when three of his bomb crater paintings were accepted by the War Advisory Commission in 1943.

What followed places Town securely amongst the circle of war artists of the time. He corresponded extensively with Keith Vaughan and their friendship had a dramatic impact on his work. The war, however, shaped his choice of subject matter. When he joined the Pioneer Corps he expected work as a stretcher bearer, but initially spent time in the bomb disposal squad before being sent down the mines. He writes: to say that one is shocked at the crazy, dangerous and unhealthy atmosphere of it all is to understate my feelings. Dismay at these conditions provoked the realistic and compelling drawings of miners in this exhibition.

When the war finished, trauma of readjustment faced the whole country. Town's most intense work dates to this period. He was studying for a diploma at the R.C.A. and the opportunity to concentrate on painting allowed him to express his difficulties in returning to the realm of normal human activity. His paintings of this date reveal a recurring theme of lone figures standing isolated against backgounds of dark woodland or busy townscapes, such as Returning Home.

Many of the Neo-Romantic artists left Britain during this period, Piper and Ayrton voyaging to Italy, Sutherland and Bacon to the South of France. Town embarked on a vigorous rediscovery of the English countryside. Travelling exhaustively to Yorkshire, Ireland, Cornwall and Wales, often on bicycle, he filled numerous sketchbooks with watercolour and pastel landscapes. This obvious enjoyment of the countryside continues throughout the 1950's and towards the end of the decade, his landscapes become more abstracted and 'visionary'.

Retiring by nature, he preferred the role of teacher to participation in the commercial art world of contemporary art sales. He taught graphic design at the Wimbledon School of Art for twenty five years, finally heading the department during the 70's and early 80's. He exhibited rarely during this period and consequently his early work has been forgotten, despite gaining significant attention after the war, demonstrated by his inclusion in the 1950-51 exhibition Fifteen Contemporary Painters at the Leeds City Art Gallery alongside Vaughan, Minton, Colquhoun, Macbryde and Ayrton.

Town's first one man show was in 1949 at the Haworth Gallery, Yorkshire. This is his first in London.


NORMAN TOWN: ROMANTIC LANDSCAPES FROM THE WAR YEARS AND AFTER

In the darkest hour of the war, when British morale was at its lowest, a young recruit to the Pioneer Corps, Norman Basil Town, was keeping a poetic record of the war in paintings and journals. Professional recognition came when the director of the Wakefield City Art Gallery, realising that Town was an artist of unusual
sensibility, sent three of Town's bomb crater paintings to the War Advisory Commission.

Town's grim experiences as a conscientious objector in the war sent him all over the country in a variety of dangerous jobs. After working in the Yorkshire Bomb Disposal Unit, he was sent down the mines in 1943 and his dismay at the conditions provoked a series of realistic and compelling drawings of miners at work in the shafts, reminiscent of Henry Moore's shelter drawings.

When the war finished, the trauma of readjustment faced the whole country. Town studied at the Royal College of Art between 1946-1949 and some of his most intense work dates to this period. The opportunity to concentrate on painting allowed him to express his difficulties in returning to the realm of normal human activity after the monotony and squalor of his war work. His paintings of this date reveal a recurring theme of lone figures standing isolated against their backgrounds, such as Returning Home.

A key influence on Town's work during the 40's was undoubtedly his friendship with Keith Vaughan. Throughout their extensive correspondence, Town reveals a professional anxiety, religious uncertainty and a profound love of music and nature. As a man who derived immense pleasure from the landscape and sketching in the open air, he can often sound ecstatic in his descriptions to Vaughan of a particular rural scene.

Many of the Neo-Romantic artists left Britain during the late 1940's and early 1950's. Piper and Ayrton voyaging to Italy, Sutherland and Bacon to the south of France. Town embarked on a vigorous rediscovery of the English countryside. Travelling exhaustively to Yorkshire, Ireland, Cornwall and Wales, often on bicycle, he filled numerous sketchbooks with watercolour and pastel landscapes. This obvious enjoyment of the countryside continues throughout the 1950's and towards the end of the decade, his landscapes become more abstracted and visionary.

Retiring by nature, he grew to prefer the role of teacher to participation in the commercial art world of contemporary art sales. He taught graphic design at the Wimbledon School of Art for twenty five years, finally heading the department during the 70's and early 80's. He exhibited rarely during this period and consequently his early work has been forgotten, despite gaining significant attention after the war, demonstrated by his inclusion in the 1950-51 exhibition Fifteen Contemporary British Painters at the Leeds City Art Gallery alongside Vaughan, Minton, Colquhoun, Macbryde and Ayrton.
Town's first one man show was in 1949 at the Haworth Gallery, Yorkshire. This is his first in London.


EXHIBITIONS

1945: London, Council for the encouragement of Music and the Arts, Belgrave Square, A Fourth Exhibition of Contemporary Paintings catalogue number 69, Tree Root growing into Chasm, lent by E.I. Musgrave.

1945: London, Leger Galleries, exhibition from competition organised by Central Institute of Art and Design for A.R. Mowbray & Co Ltd, Religious Paintings and Drawings, March, catalogue number 70, Agony in the Garden.

1945-1946: Yorkshire, Wakefield City Art Gallery, West Riding Artists' Exhibition, November 17th 1945 to January 6th 1946 catalogue number 92, The Pit Cage.

1948: Yorkshire, Haworth Gallery Ltd, Crown Court, Wakefield, Inaugural Exhibition of Works by Contemporary Artists, October 23nd to November 22nd, catalogue number 22, Landscape Yorks.

1949: Yorkshire, Wakefield, County Council of the West Riding of Yorkshire Education Department, West Riding Schools Collection, catalogue number 24, Fishing Boats, catalogue number 25, Yorkshire Landscape.

1949: London, Royal Society of British Artists, Suffolk Street, Young Contemporaries, Art Students of Greater London, 25th March to 9th April, catalogue number 64, Nude Study, catalogue
number 168, Boxhill, Surrey, catalogue number 239, Gravel Pits, catalogue number 374, Richmond Park, catalogue number 400, Devon Coast.

1949: Yorkshire, Haworth Gallery Ltd, Crown Court, Wakefield, Exhibition of Paintings by Norman Town, April 9th to May 14th

1949: London, Whitechapel Art Gallery, organised by the Society for Education in Art with the Arts Council of Great Britain, Pictures for Schools, October 8-29, 1949, catalogue number 122, Haulage Road.

1950-1951: Yorkshire, Leeds City Art Gallery, Fifteen Contemporary British Painters, 7th December 1950 - 7th January 1951, catalogue number 77, Farm on the Moors, catalogue number 78, Grey Miner, catalogue number 79, Miner, catalogue number 80, Slag Heaps, catalogue number 81, Landscape, Richmond, catalogue number 82, Haircut and Shave. (preliminary to Festival of Britain activities).

1951: Yorkshire, Temple Newsam, Leeds, London Group, War Artists, catalogue number 224, Winter Sea.

1952: Yorkshire, Wakefield City Art Gallery, West Riding Artists, Nineteenth Annual Exhibition, November 8th-December 24th, catalogue number 76, Industrial Landscape, catalogue number 165, Cornish Landscape.

1953: London, Gimpel Fils, John Christoforou and Norman Town, April, catalogue numbers 1-46.

1954: London, Whitechapel Art Gallery, Society for Education Through Art, Pictures for Schools, 23rd January-14th February, catalogue number 300, Fishing Boats, Cornwall.

1956: London, Institute of Contemporary Arts, Ten Years of English Landscape Painting 1945-1955, catalogue numbers 24 and 25.

1956: London, Whitechapel Art Gallery, Society for Education through Art with Arts Council of Great Britain, Pictures for Schools 1956, February 10th to March 4th, catalogue number 131,
Adjutant Birds, catalogue number 128, Zebra.

1980: Guildford, University of Surrey, Landscapes and Seascapes, Paintings and Drawings of Basil Town, April 16-May 2.

1980: Leatherhead, Surrey, Thorndike Theatre Gallery, An Exhibition of drawings: paintings by Basil Town, June 3rd-5th July.