Torquay School of Art

At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries and the advent of World War I, Torquay was one of the most fashionable places in the world to holiday and be seen by one's contemporaries. The mild climate, beautiful scenery and relatively easy access by road made the town attractive to aspiring socialites and artists. Some of the visiting artists had exhibited at the Royal Academy and were already established in the art world. There was also a locally based group of Devon-born artists, loosely associated with the Vivian Institute, which housed the Torquay School of Art. A group of these artists came together by way of an amiable and highly accomplished artist called Alexander Fisher, who also worked as a pottery painter at The Terracotta Company at Hele Cross in Torquay. Fisher was a keen landscape painter and in 1905, he set up a gallery and studio in Lucius Street, Torquay. Here he exhibited his own paintings and those of friends and associates who also aspired to become professional painters.

Then came the first reinvention of the building. In 1887, it became the School of Science and Art and later the Vivian Institute, (1911-1930). It was set up by Edward Vivian (1808-1893), the joint proprietor of the Torquay Bank, an hotelier, magistrate and writer. At about this time, several locally based artists, many of whom worked by day in Torquay’s mushrooming pottery industry, grouped calling themselves ‘The Artisans Art Society’. To develop this collective ambition, on 1 February 1912, a tmeeting was held at the School of Art and Alexander Fisher was appointed chairman of the meeting group. Plans for the future were discussed and at a second meeting a few days later, it was decided to form a society and call themselves The Torquay & Devon Art Society. George Bedford, who was Head of the School of Art, was elected the society’s first Chairman and Arthur Hacker was invited to become the first President. Hacker who was a member of the Royal Academy and a gifted artist working on the fringes of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, accepted the Presidency.

​It was agreed to hold the Society’s first exhibition at the Torquay Spa Baths from 17-19 April 1912. It was a mixed art and craft exhibition entitled ‘The Devon County Arts & Crafts Exhibition’. The exhibition consisted of 140 works (133 paintings in oil or watercolour, 3 pieces of fine art handicraft, 3 fine art needlework panels and a case of jewellery-enamels). The exhibition had almost a thousand visitors and established the Society’s existence in the South West. The newly formed Torquay and Devon Art Society exhibition was a great success. The local newspaper, The Torquay Express & Echo, reported that the success of the exhibition had doubled the Society membership, which now comprised 34. The art school ceased to exist as an independent entity in the mid-1950's.