Ruskin Spear

Ruskin Spear, CBE, RA (30 June 1911 – 16 January 1990) was an English painter and teacher of art, regarded as one of the foremost British portrait painters of his day. He is the father of Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band member Roger Ruskin Spear.

Biography

Early life and education

Born in Hammersmith to a working-class family, Spear was the youngest of five children. Spear contracted polio at the age of two, and later attended the local Brook Green (PD) School, a London County Council school for the "Physically Defective". Awarded an LCC scholarship to the Hammersmith School of Art, Spear followed on with studies at the Royal College of Art, where he later was made a Royal Academician and tutor. Spear attended the local art school before going on to the Royal College of Art in 1930.

Teaching

He began his teaching career at Croydon School of Art, later teaching at the Royal College of Art from 1948 to 1975, where his students included Sandra Blow.

Art

Initially influenced by Walter Sickert, the Camden Town Group, and the portraiture of the Euston Road School, his work often has a narrative quality, with elements of humour and satire. As one of the thirty eight Official War Artists in Britain in the Second World War, between 1942–44, Spear was commissioned by the War Artists' Advisory Committee, under the chairmanship of Kenneth Clark, given a short-term contract, producing several works for the scheme.

Because he used a wheelchair due to childhood polio, much of his work concerned his immediate surroundings. He rendered the citizens of Hammersmith relaxing in and around the local pubs, theatres and shops. In 1980, a retrospective of Spear's work was held at the Royal Academy in London.

Spear's paintings are held in important public collections in the United Kingdom, including the Tate Gallery Collection, Arts Council England, National Portrait Gallery, the Imperial War Museum,Government Art Collection and the Royal Academy of Arts, and worldwide.

Personal Life

He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1979. Spear was the father of musician Roger Ruskin Spear (born 1943). Roger Ruskin Spear would find fame in the 1960s, as a member of the Satirical group The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band.

Death

Spear died in Hammersmith on 16 January 1990, at the age of 78. The New York Times states he died after suffering from a short illness.

Further reading

• Harrod, Tanya (2022). Harrison, Martin (ed.). Humankind: Ruskin Spear – class, culture and art in 20th century Britain. London: EFB Publishing/Thames & Hudson.
• Levy, Mervyn (1985). Ruskin Spear. London : Weidenfeld and Nicolson.

External links

• Official site: Ruskin Spear CBE RA - British Artist 1911-1990
• Ruskin Spear's Cats
• Ruskin Spear's work at ArtUK
• Literature by and about Ruskin Spear in the German National Library catalogue