Gregory Fellowships

Maurice de Sausmarez and Leeds

An exploration of the artist, writer and art educator Maurice de Sausmarez's time in Leeds, including his tenure as Lecturer and Head of the Department of Fine Art at the University of Leeds.

The Birth of the University's Department of Fine Art

Maurice de Sausmarez's relationship with the city of Leeds.

Gregory Fellowships

The Gregory Fellowships in the Creative Arts were established in 1949 and ran until 1980.

The University Art Collection

Maurice de Sausmarez's support for the Gregory Fellows continued in his involvement with and recommendations to the University's Art Collection.

Alongside his contributions to the development of the University’s Fine Art Department and the work of the Gregory Fellows, Maurice de Sausmarez was also heavily involved in cultural activities on campus.

Makerere College School of Art

In July 1952, while working as Lecturer and Head of Fine Art, de Sausmarez visited the Makerere College School of Art in Uganda. He visited the college, at the request of the Inter-University Council for Higher Education in the Colonies, to advise on the development of the school and a new Diploma course.

Lectures and Extramural Teaching

Alongside of his work at the University, de Sausmarez also lectured and taught extensively throughout the region. He organised and chaired several lecture series both for students and the public, giving many of the lectures himself and helping to broaden interest in the study of art.

Broadcasting

Throughout his career, Maurice de Sausmarez gave talks and lectures on art history and the discussion around art education reform through various radio and TV broadcasts.

Basic Design

'Basic Design', inspired by Bauhaus education principles, played a vital role in revolutionising art school teaching in Britain in the 1950s and 1960s. The two main principles of the movement were a reasoned and objective approach to teaching and the importance of embracing science, technology and the modern world.

Painting

Maurice de Sausmarez completed many paintings and artworks while living and working in Leeds. He was commissioned to paint several portraits including that of Professor of English Literature and co-founder of the University’s Fine Art Department, Bonamy Dobrée, and of Gregory Fellow in Poetry, James Kirkup.

The Gregory Fellowships in the Creative Arts were established in 1949 and ran until 1980. The scheme provided financial support to poets, painters, sculptors and musicians and enabled them to work within the University community and the wider Leeds art scene.

During de Sausmarez’s time at Leeds he worked closely with many of the Fellows. He enthusiastically championed the value of having contemporary working artists within the Fine Art Department and the benefits for his students. In 1959, in notes to his successor Quentin Bell, de Sausmarez wrote of the Gregory Fellows, ‘I have no doubt that the association of the artist and art historian in the department is the best solution.’

De Sausmarez’s work with the Gregory Fellows began at his appointment to the newly founded Fine Art Department where current Fellows in Sculpture and Painting (Reg Butle r and Martin Froy) were also counted among the staff. Around this time, he was also commissioned by the University to paint the portrait of the first Gregory Fellow in Poetry James Kirkup. He later formed connections with Fellows in Sculpture Kenneth Armitage and Hubert Dalwood, and Fellow in Painting Terry Frost which would last beyond his career at Leeds. After leaving the University, Dalwood, Frost and de Sausmarez taught together at the Byam Shaw School of Drawing and Painting, and both artists donated work to the posthumous exhibition Homage to Maurice de Sausmarez in 1971.

De Sausmarez also formed a close friendship with Fellow in Music Kenneth Leighton. In 1964 when de Sausmarez’s mother passed away he commissioned Leighton to compose a piece of music in her memory. Five years later, in 1969, Leighton wrote a second memorial piece, this time in memory of de Sausmarez himself.

De Sausmarez curated and organised many exhibitions of work by the Gregory Fellows on campus, particularly in Parkinson Court. He also collaborated with Fellow in Poetry Jon Silkin to curate an exhibition of poems and artworks by Isaac Rosenberg. A review of the exhibition describes it as including a large number of drawings, paintings and poetry manuscripts, as many ‘as it has been possible to assemble’, and that the variety of works on display owed to the ‘energetic enthusiasm’ of Silkin and de Sausmarez.