Figure 1.--This is a photograph that Maurice Feild took of his art students as The Down School during the 1930s. They are seen painting in the fresh air which Feild emphasized in his teaching.

E. Maurice Feild is not a well known English artist and is probanly better known as an influential art teacher. Lawrence Gowing was reported to have described Feild as "among the unsung influences on British painting" 【Berthoud】 We have no information on his early life. After Workld War he studied at the Slade School of Fine Art (1920s). After graduatig and a brief stint, he began teaching at The Downs, a Quaker preparatory school in Herefordshire (1928), The School is now Malvern College's prep school, Feild remained there for nearly two decades. Along the Malvern Hills, it offered insopiraiion for landscape paintuing. He taught The Downs until after World War II. He emphasized painting in the open-air and emphasized what he called 'direct sincdrity'. He is known to have influenced Kenneth Rowntree, Lawrence Gowing, Patrick George and Francis Hoyland--leaving a notable vle impact on English art, more imprtant than his actual paintings. He was closely associated with poet W.H. Auden (1930s). He became associated with the Euston Road School. He encouraged his pupils to paint with direct sincerity in the open air, and the many English painters who learned from him included Kenneth Rowntree, Lawrence Gowing, Andrew Forge, Patrick George, Anthony Hill, Anthony Fry, and Francis Hoyland. After the War, Feild taught at the Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts and at the invitation of William Coldstream returned to the Slade to teach. Feild is probanly best known as an artist for his landscapes. You might have thought, teaching at a boy's prep school he would have painted a number of school images, but we have not found many such images, although we do note a few works of children, Perhaps because he is not a major artist, we have not foond any of his images that have been posted as a high-quality scan. A collection of Feild's paintings went on display (2010). This was the first exhibitiion in years. A treasure of his pauitings were discovered in a long forgottonn cupboard at the Downs School. Feild married Alexandra Feild and they had a son, John Feild, who is a music teacher and musician.

Sources

Berthoud, Roger. The Times (June 12, 1982), p. 12.

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Created: 10:32 PM 12/14/2020
Last updated: 10:32 PM 12/14/2020