Edward Adamson
Encyclopedia
Edward Adamson was a British artist and pioneer of Art Therapy
, who has been called “the father of art therapy in Britain”.
, another pioneer of Art Therapy (who apparently coined the term "Art Therapy" in 1942). Hill believed that art appreciation aided recovery from illness and was involved, with the British Red Cross Society, in setting up a scheme whereby reproductions of famous artists' works were lent to hospital wards all over Britain, and speakers engaged to talk to the patients about art. Adamson came to Netherne Hospital – a long stay mental asylum – as part of this programme. He met Eric Cunningham Dax
, the Medical Superintendent, who, impressed by Adamson’s rapport with the people who were compelled to live at Netherne, asked him to work in an Art Studio at Netherne which had been set up as a research project. The results published by Dax in “Experimental Studies in Psychiatric Art”.
Adamson continued working at Netherne from 1946 until his retirement in 1981. Adamson was the first artist employed in the National Health Service. By 1970 he had 5 studios and a gallery at Netherne for the Adamson Collection, which contained an estimated 60,000 pieces of the people’ work. Among the people he encouraged at Netherne were the artists William Kurelek
and Rolanda Polonsky.
He was a founder member of the British Association of Art Therapists, and its first chairman in 1964. He was Head of the first Art Therapy training programme at St. Albans in the early 1970s. He and his long-term partner and collaborator, John Timlin, lectured on art and mental health, and exhibited the Collection, throughout the world, including Europe, Japan, Canada and the United States.
After his retirement, Adamson opened a gallery on Miriam Rothschild
’s Ashton Wold estate in 1983. In 1984, he published his book on his work and the Collection, “Art As Healing”, which won the UK mental health charity MIND Book Of The Year Award in 1985
By then friends with Rebecca Alban Hoffberger
, Adamson and Timlin attended the inauguration of American Visionary Arts Museum in 1995, and donated Kurelek’s ‘Where am I? Who Am I? Why Am I?’ among other works to the museum. Hoffberger describes him as 'renowned for his gentle nature as the British Buddha'. In 1996, Timlin gave Adamson’s library to AVAM.
In November 1995 Adamson was advised privately that he was to be awarded the MBE for his services to mental health but he died before this was formally bestowed upon him. He died at his London home, the Studio, Hollywood Road in West Brompton, on February 3, 1996, aged 84. His ashes were interred at the Ashton Chapel (c 1706) on the Ashton Wold estate.
He believed the exhibiting of the Collection educated the public about the creativity and humanity of those with mental illness. "Adamson was an educator, who saw the socio-cultural intervention of showing these people’s works to the public who had excluded them - and showing it as an important contribution to their culture - as a way to change public opinion".
. The Adamson Collection now comprises approximately 6000 paintings, drawings, sculptures and ceramics, and amounts to a body of work of huge international and historical importance. It has been exhibited nationally and internationally and has received wide media coverage. It is on permanent loan by The Adamson Collection Trust, set up in 1978 to promote Adamson’s work and the Collection, with Timlin as its Chairman from 1978 to 2001, and David O’Flynn, Consultant Rehabilitation Psychiatrist at Lambeth Hospital since. Adamson was the Collection's Curator until his death, a role then taken by the Lambeth Hospital Art Therapist, Alice Jackson.
In 2000 the Adamson Centre for Mental Health, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, at St Thomas’ Hospital was named as a tribute to his pioneering work. In 2010 the Wellcome Library
accepted Adamson’s personal papers, photographs and other artefacts, including hundreds of photographic transparencies of works, including of many now lost .
Art therapy
Because of its dual origins in art and psychotherapy, art therapy definitions vary. They commonly either lean more toward the ART art-making process as therapeutic in and of itself, "art as therapy," or focus on the psychotherapeutic transference process between the therapist and the client who...
, who has been called “the father of art therapy in Britain”.
Life and work
Edward Adamson was born in Sale, Cheshire, and received a degree in Fine Art from Bromley and Beckenham (now Ravensbourne) College, then outside London. In 1946, he volunteered to work with Adrian HillAdrian Hill
Adrian Hill was a British artist, author, pioneering Art Therapist, educator and broadcaster. He wrote many best-selling books about painting and drawing, and in the 1950s and early 1960s presented a BBC children's television program called Sketch Club.-Life and work:Adrian Keith Graham Hill was...
, another pioneer of Art Therapy (who apparently coined the term "Art Therapy" in 1942). Hill believed that art appreciation aided recovery from illness and was involved, with the British Red Cross Society, in setting up a scheme whereby reproductions of famous artists' works were lent to hospital wards all over Britain, and speakers engaged to talk to the patients about art. Adamson came to Netherne Hospital – a long stay mental asylum – as part of this programme. He met Eric Cunningham Dax
Eric Cunningham Dax
Dr Eric Cunningham Dax, AO, BSc Lond, HonMD, FRACP, FRANZCP, HonFRCPsych was a British psychiatrist resident in Australia from 1952.-Clinical Work in England:...
, the Medical Superintendent, who, impressed by Adamson’s rapport with the people who were compelled to live at Netherne, asked him to work in an Art Studio at Netherne which had been set up as a research project. The results published by Dax in “Experimental Studies in Psychiatric Art”.
Adamson continued working at Netherne from 1946 until his retirement in 1981. Adamson was the first artist employed in the National Health Service. By 1970 he had 5 studios and a gallery at Netherne for the Adamson Collection, which contained an estimated 60,000 pieces of the people’ work. Among the people he encouraged at Netherne were the artists William Kurelek
William Kurelek
William Kurelek, CM was a Canadian artist and writer. His work was influenced by his childhood on the prairies, his Ukrainian-Canadian roots and his Roman Catholicism.- Life :...
and Rolanda Polonsky.
He was a founder member of the British Association of Art Therapists, and its first chairman in 1964. He was Head of the first Art Therapy training programme at St. Albans in the early 1970s. He and his long-term partner and collaborator, John Timlin, lectured on art and mental health, and exhibited the Collection, throughout the world, including Europe, Japan, Canada and the United States.
After his retirement, Adamson opened a gallery on Miriam Rothschild
Miriam Rothschild
Dame Miriam Louisa Rothschild DBE, FRS was a British natural scientist and author with contributions to zoology, entomology, and botany.-Early life:...
’s Ashton Wold estate in 1983. In 1984, he published his book on his work and the Collection, “Art As Healing”, which won the UK mental health charity MIND Book Of The Year Award in 1985
By then friends with Rebecca Alban Hoffberger
Rebecca Alban Hoffberger
Rebecca Alban Hoffberger is the founder and director of the American Visionary Art Museum, America's official national museum for outsider art, located in Baltimore, Maryland. In 1998, Hoffberger won The Urban Land Institute's coveted National Award for Excellence. In 1999, Hoffberger was elected...
, Adamson and Timlin attended the inauguration of American Visionary Arts Museum in 1995, and donated Kurelek’s ‘Where am I? Who Am I? Why Am I?’ among other works to the museum. Hoffberger describes him as 'renowned for his gentle nature as the British Buddha'. In 1996, Timlin gave Adamson’s library to AVAM.
In November 1995 Adamson was advised privately that he was to be awarded the MBE for his services to mental health but he died before this was formally bestowed upon him. He died at his London home, the Studio, Hollywood Road in West Brompton, on February 3, 1996, aged 84. His ashes were interred at the Ashton Chapel (c 1706) on the Ashton Wold estate.
Ideas about art and mental health
Adamson saw in his progressive art studios, people psychologically recovered - ‘healing’, in his terms - through the act of expressing themselves through art. The act of creating was what mattered to Adamson – how not to influence, distort or impinge on self expression, the artist’s or therapist’s primary concern. Adamson encouraged 'free expression' by letting people come to paint or sculpt with only minimal technical assistance, never comment or judgment. If the creator talked about a work, he'd listen. He saw himself an artist, “somewhere in between” the clinical staff and the patients, and the space where he worked as an art studio. This is the essence of his 'non-interventionist' working style . He abhorred psychological interpretation, which he dismissed as ‘the therapist’s own projections’ onto the work . “In his later years Mr. Adamson was critical of a movement to train as art therapists people whose background was more in the field of psychology than art. "Can't the psychologist remain a psychologist and not try and take art over?" he asked in the 1987 interview”.He believed the exhibiting of the Collection educated the public about the creativity and humanity of those with mental illness. "Adamson was an educator, who saw the socio-cultural intervention of showing these people’s works to the public who had excluded them - and showing it as an important contribution to their culture - as a way to change public opinion".
Since his death
After Adamson’s death in 1996, the Adamson Collection was moved to Lambeth Hospital, an inner London mental health unit, part of South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation TrustSouth London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust
The South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust is an NHS foundation trust based in London, United Kingdom. It comprises three psychiatric hospitals The South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust is an NHS foundation trust based in London, United Kingdom. It comprises three psychiatric...
. The Adamson Collection now comprises approximately 6000 paintings, drawings, sculptures and ceramics, and amounts to a body of work of huge international and historical importance. It has been exhibited nationally and internationally and has received wide media coverage. It is on permanent loan by The Adamson Collection Trust, set up in 1978 to promote Adamson’s work and the Collection, with Timlin as its Chairman from 1978 to 2001, and David O’Flynn, Consultant Rehabilitation Psychiatrist at Lambeth Hospital since. Adamson was the Collection's Curator until his death, a role then taken by the Lambeth Hospital Art Therapist, Alice Jackson.
In 2000 the Adamson Centre for Mental Health, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, at St Thomas’ Hospital was named as a tribute to his pioneering work. In 2010 the Wellcome Library
Wellcome Library
The Wellcome Library is founded on the collection formed by Sir Henry Wellcome , whose personal wealth allowed him to create one of the most ambitious collections of the 20th century. Henry Wellcome's interest was the history of medicine in a broad sense and included subjects like alchemy or...
accepted Adamson’s personal papers, photographs and other artefacts, including hundreds of photographic transparencies of works, including of many now lost .
Writings by Edward Adamson (selected)
- 1984: 'Art as Healing'. Coventure;
- 1970: ‘Art for Mental Health’, in J Creedy; Social Context of Art. Tavistock;
- 1968: 'Art and Mental Health', in exhibition catalogue, the Commonwealth Institute, London;
- 1965: ‘Review of artistic self expression in mental disease: the shattered image of schizophrenics’, Mental Health December, 272-274;
- 1963: ‘Art and mental health’, Mental Health. Journal of the National Association for mental Health, Vol. 22, No.2;
- 1962: ’Darkness into Light’, The Observer 17 June.
Exhibitions of the Adamson Collection (selected)
- 1947: Kingston Town Hall;
- 1951: International Congress of Psychiatry;
- 1955: “Aspects of Schizophrenic Art”, Institute of Contemporary ArtsInstitute of Contemporary ArtsThe Institute of Contemporary Arts is an artistic and cultural centre on The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. It is located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps and Admiralty Arch...
, London; - 1961: Royal Society of Medicine;
- 1965: Institute of Contemporary Arts, London;
- 1967: International Society for Psychopathological Art, Paris;
- 1969: House of Commons;
- 1974: University of Cairo;
- 1984: "Selections from the Edward Adamson Collection", Art Gallery of Ontario;
- 1991: Kfar Saba Cultural Centre, Jerusalem, Israel;
- 1997: Lambeth Hospital. Opened by Jo BrandJo BrandJosephine Grace "Jo" Brand is a BAFTA winning British comedian, writer, and actor.- Early life :Jo Brand was born 23 July 1957 in Wandsworth, London. Her mother was a social worker. Brand is the middle of three children, with two brothers...
- 1999: Lambeth Hospital. Opened by Stephen TumimStephen TumimSir Stephen Tumim was an English judge, and was Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons from 1987 to 1995.Tumim was the son of a barrister, and was educated at St Edward's School, Oxford and Worcester College, Oxford...
- 2002: Fifteenth Triannual Congress of the International Association for Analytical PsychologyInternational Association for Analytical PsychologyThe International Association for Analytical Psychology is the international association of those who practice analytical psychology, which is to say, psychology in the tradition of Carl Gustav Jung. It is based in Zurich and was founded in 1955...
(IAAP), Cambridge. - 2004: Mexico Gallery, London