Richard Robbins (artist)
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Richard Robbins | |
|---|---|
| Born | 12 July 1927 Hampstead Garden Suburb, London, England |
| Died | 28 July 2009 (aged 82) |
Richard Robbins (12 July 1927 – 28 July 2009) was a British artist, sculptor and art teacher, who ended his career as Head of Fine Art at Middlesex University.
Robbins was born in Hampstead Garden Suburb, London, in 1927. His parents were the economist Lionel Robbins (1898–1984) and his wife Iris (née Gardiner) (1896–1997). Robbins was born on the day that his father was elected a Fellow of New College, Oxford.[1] His father became a life peer in 1958, rendering Robbins The Hon, which was a title he loathed and never used.[2] He had an older sister, Anne, who would go on to marry the economist and journalist Christopher Johnson.
He attended King Alfred and University College Schools in London[3] and, during World War II, New College School in Oxford[4] and Dauntsey's School in Wiltshire. He was sent to Dauntsey's, known for its art teaching, having expressed a view at the age of seven that “I want to be a painter”.[2]
Military
Just after the end of the War in 1945, at 18 Robbins joined the Royal Artillery's 21st Field Training Regiment, then stationed in Venice.[5][2] Bored with his duties and rejected for a Commission, Robbins left the Army in 1948.[2] His time in Venice, however, did provide him with an opportunity to study Venetian art.[3]
Education
On being demobbed, Robbins went up to New College, Oxford where he read English under John Bayley, but without enthusiasm, and was awarded a Fourth, of which he was very proud.[2] After Oxford he studied painting at Goldsmiths' College in London,[3][6] the Ruskin School of Art and the Slade School of Fine Art.[7][3]
