East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing

The School was established in 1937 at Dedham, on the Essex/Suffolk border, by Cedric Morris, with the help of John Aldridge, Edward Bawden and Eric Ravilious. The four artists, all members of the 7 & 5 Society, had become disillusioned by the direction that society was taking after the election of Ben Nicholson as Chairman in 1926, especially by Nicholson’s introduction of a ruling that restricted the society's exhibitions to the showing of non-representational work only. Morris was the first to leave, moving to Dedham with his lifelong companion sculptor Arthur Lett-Haines. They were soon joined by Aldridge, Bawden and Ravilious who all settled a few miles away at Great Bardfield in Essex. The School suffered a devastating fire in 1940 allegedly started by pupil Lucian Freud. It was forced to relocate to Benton End near Hadleigh in Suffolk, where it survived for forty years until the Haines’ demise in 1978. Morris continued to live at Benton End until his death in 1982. Other alumni included Maggi Hambling, David Carr, Lucy Harwood, Joan Warburton and Glyn Morgan.