Creative Flow

Uppingham’s thriving Art and Design department is based in The Leonardo Centre, opened in 1995 and designed by Piers Gough (WB 59).

‘The Leo’, as it is known, incorporates painting, drawing, ceramics, design and technology, sculpture, textiles and photography – and provides a creative hub for students to explore their imaginations.

A number of eminent and successful artists have passed through the School’s gates over the years. From watercolourists, oil painters and landscape artists to modernists, there is a rich history of mediums and styles. Notable artists include Christopher R W Nevinson (SH 1903), figure and landscape painter, who was one of the most influential artists of World War I. Nevinson’s 1914 painting ‘A Dawn’, featuring grim-faced French soldiers on their way to the front at Flanders, sold for £1.87m at Sotheby’s in 2017, the highest price paid for a piece by an Uppinghamian.

A near contemporary of Nevinson, George Apperley (M 1898), was an aficionado of Andalucian landscapes and portraits. Apperley exhibited all over Spain, including an exhibition for the King of Spain himself. There is a statue of Apperley in Granada and his work still sells for up to £50,000. Other significant post-war artists include John Aldridge (H 1919), an internationally renowned oil painter, and Dr Terence Leigh-Parry (B 1933), former President of the British Pastel Society and highly regarded painter of equestrian subjects. Known in artistic circles as Leigh Parry, he last visited Uppingham in 2015, aged 95, to present a painting to the School.

In more recent times Peter Thomas (Fgh 67), one time warden of the Thring Centre at Uppingham, exhibits his beautiful pastel landscape scenes of south-west France worldwide. Rob (LH 82) and Nick Carter (née Whittington, Fd 85) are known globally for their vibrant neon installations, light paintings and innovative robot-painted artwork. Meanwhile Beirut-based Tom Young’s (M 86) paintings depict the fragile beauty of a war-torn city. There are many more artists worthy of a mention here, spanning all generations, including Emily Hartley Booth (J 99), Dan Feit (C 99), Tilly de Verteuil (J 07), Molly Brocklehurst (C 07), Hebe Rose (Fd 13) and Lou Dunipace (J 88). We know there are many more talented OU artists and we’d love to hear from you.

A mention should also go to the Directors of the Leonardo who have made it such a creative hub over the last 25 years, including Simon Sharpe, Alan Parker and Stuart Jarvis (exhibiting this year at the London Art Biennale) and the newly appointed, but long-serving, Clive Simmons.

Lou Dunipace (J 88)

Tom Young (M 86)

Rob (LH 82) and Nick Carter (née Whittington, Fd 85) Queen Elizabeth II Robot Painting, 2020, Private Commission

Michael Harrison (WD 57)

Finally, our congratulations go to Michael Harrison (WD 57), a landscape artist, who has recently been elected a member of the Royal Society of British Artists, one of the most prestigious art societies in the UK. Michael says he is “grateful beyond measure to the late Warwick Metcalfe (Head of Art from 1958 to 1988) who saw a glimmer of artistic ability and encouraged it all those years back”. Michael will be staging an OU art exhibition at The Leonardo in 2022, date to be confirmed, where OUs from the art world will be invited to exhibit and sell their work. We shall look forward to welcoming our vibrant artistic community back to the School in the very near future.

If you would like to be involved in the exhibition, please email the OU team at ou@uppingham.co.uk.

Michael Harrison (WD 57)