LEONARD McCOMB at Art Space Gallery - CV
Self Portrait, 2002on display at the NPG |
Leonard McComb studied at Manchester School of Art and subsequently at the Slade School of Fine Art from 1956 to 1959, followed by a Postgraduate degree in sculpture, also at the Slade, in 1960. He went on to teach at various art schools, including Oxford Brookes University, Sir John Cass College, Slade School of Fine Art, Royal College of Art and Goldsmiths College, and the Prince's Trust; in 1974 he founded the Sunningwell School of Art, Oxford. McComb lived and worked in Brixton, London |
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WORK IN PUBLIC COLLECTIONS | Arts Council of England | Victoria and Albert Museum | |
| The British Council | Girton College Cambridge | |
| University of Cambridge | The Public Galleries: | |
| Kelvingrove Art Gallery Glasgow | Bedford, Birmingham, | |
| National Portrait Gallery London | Eastbourne, Leicester, | |
| Tate Gallery London | Manchester, Swindon, | |
| Royal Academy London | Ulster, Worcester |
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
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MAJOR COMMISSIONS| Ceramic and Tapestry Designs for Boots, Nottingham | |
| Commemorative Bronze and Gold Leaf Portrait Plaque of John Brookes for Oxford Brookes University | |
| Oil Paintings on site at Bingham Canyon Copper Mines, USA for RTZ London | |
| Oil Painting of a Panoramic View of Purfleet Quay Kings Lynn Norfolk | |
| The Bartlett Mosaics at Westminster Cathedral London | |
| Portrait of the Novelist Doris Lessing for the National Portrait Gallery, London | |
| Selected by the Vatican to design a Jubilee Medal to commemorate the Millenium |
PRIZES| 1998 | RWS Prize |
| 1997 | Norstern Prize Royal Academy |
| 1993 | Times Watercolour Prize |
| 1992 | Times Watercolour Prize |
| 1990 | Korn Ferry Awards |
| 1977 | Jubilee Prize Royal Academy |
BIOGRAPHYLeonard McComb was a versatile artist who celebrated working in various media and was unusual amongst his contemporaries in being represented in the Tate Gallery Collection with works in oil, watercolour, and print, as well as sculpture. His sculpture, Young Man Standing, also known as the Golden Man (Tate Gallery), was the subject of National controversy when it was withdrawn from exhibition in Lincoln Cathedral as it was considered indecent by a senior cathedral cleric. Having destroyed most of his early work, McComb was included in the exhibition, The Human Clay, held at the Hayward Gallery in 1976; his first solo show was held the following year at the Coracle Press. In 1983, an Arts Council touring exhibition, entitled Leonard McComb Drawing Painting Sculpture, was organised by the Museum of Modern Art, Oxford and shown at the Serpentine Gallery, London; City Art Gallery, Manchester; Gardner Arts Centre, University of Sussex; and the Fruit Market Gallery, Edinburgh. His work continued to be exhibited in many important group shows, including the Whitechapel Art Gallery in 1982, the Tate Gallery in 1984, the Hirshhorn Museum, Washington D.C. in 1986, and the Museum of Modern Art, Brussels in 1987. Among McComb’s many awards are the Royal Academy’s Jubilee Award (1977); Korn Ferry Award (1990); Times Watercolour Prize (1992 and 1993); Nordstern Print Prize (1997); and the RWS Prize (1998). McComb was elected Royal Academician in 1991 (ARA 1987) and, in 1995, was elected Keeper of the Royal Academy, placing him in charge of the Royal Academy Schools until 1998. He was made an Honorary Member of the Royal Watercolour Society and the Royal Society of Printmakers in 1996. McComb has received many major commissions for private and corporate collections throughout the UK, Europe, and the USA, including the portrait of the novelist Doris Lessing for the National Portrait Gallery, London in 1999. In 2000 he was selected by the Vatican to design a Jubilee Medal, featuring Pope John Paul II and the late Archbishop Basil Hume, for the worldwide series to commemorate the Millennium. He died on 19 June 2018 at the age of 87 |
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| Chronology: | ||
| 1930 | Born 3 August in Glasgow, Father a Master Decorator and amateur Landscape Painter | |
| 1930-34 | Lived in Northern Ireland Newtownards, Family moved to Manchester | |
| 1945-47 | Art School Manchester | |
| 1947-48 | Commercial Art Studio Salford | |
| 1948-50 | Commercial Art Studio Salford | |
| 1951-54 | National Service in the RAF | |
| 1954-56 | Manchester School of Art | |
| 1956-59 | Slade School of Art, University College London | |
| 1959-60 | Postgraduate in Sculpture, Slade | |
| 1960-64 | Full Time Lecturer at the West of England College of Art Bristol | |
| 1964-77 | Head of Department of Foundation Studies Oxford Brookes University | |
| 1977-83 | Part time teaching at the Slade, Goldsmiths College, Royal Academy Schools, Canterbury and Winchester Colleges of Art, Sir John Cass College, and the Prince's Trust | |
| 1990 | Elected Royal Academician | |
| 1995-98 | Keeper of the Royal Academy Schools | |
| 1996 | Honorary Member of the Royal Watercolour Society, the Royal Society of Printmakers and the Royal Society of Portrait Painters | |
| 2004 | Awarded Honorary Doctorate by Oxford Brookes University | |
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