Description

Maurice de Sausmarez founded the Department of Fine Art at the University of Leeds in the 1960's and served as its chair, after which he moved on to become head of fine art at Hornsey College of Art, then principal of the Byam Shaw School of Drawing and Painting in London. What linked his work in all these posts was a fierce commitment to standards in teaching, an unflinching criticism of postwar art education, and a shrewd understanding of art and its creation. In 1964 he published Basic Design: The Dynamics of Visual Form, a book that has remained an important and influential part of art and design curricula for more than half a century. This volume gathers a number of reviews and essays by Sausmarez that offer a clear view of his aesthetic and pedagogical principles; together, they serve as a powerful statement about art and its making, one that is as valid today as in the early days of Sausmarez's storied career.