Glyn Morgan went to study under Ceri Richards at the Cardiff College of Art in 1942 where he found Richards to be 'a marvellous teacher' who introduced him to the modern French artists. Morgan developed a love of Picasso and Matisse in particular whilst at Cardiff and impressed Richards with his lyrical draughtsmanship. By chance Cedric Morris visited the college to judge an art competition and was immediately drawn to Morgan's work and promptly invited him to attend his East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing at Benton End in Suffolk. Morgan first enrolled there in the Summer of 1944 and returned regularly for the next 38 years becoming very close to both Cedric Morris and his partner Arthur Lett-Haines. Other artists who attended Morris's school in the 1940s included Lucian Freud, John Nash and David Carr. Writing about Benton End, Glyn Morgan stressed that the School life seemed to be lived more intensely than elsewhere: 'I, like many others, began to feel that the creaking old house and the glorious garden were the only real life and the outside world was a sort of shadowland.'
This fascinating collection of Glyn Morgan's work from the 1940s and 50s includes drawings he made at Benton End capturing the unique atmosphere of Morris's open artist's house that attracted young aspiring students from around the country. Morgan's youthful early drawings also reveal the influence of the modern masters including Picasso, Matisse, Henry Moore and Graham Sutherland.
Exhibition - 3rd February - 10th March 2022