Robert Melville (art critic)
Encyclopedia
Robert Melville was an English
art critic
and journalist
.
Along with the artists Conroy Maddox
and John Melville
(his brother), he was a key member of the Birmingham Surrealists
in the 1930s and 1940s. An early biographer of Picasso, he later become the art correspondent of the New Statesman
and the Architectural Review
.
, London
in 1905, the second son of an asphalt contractor's foreman. His family moved to the Harborne
area of Birmingham
in 1913 and after his secondary schooling Melville spent most of the 1920s in clerical jobs with a variety of industrial companies. In 1928 he married a sales assistant from a Birmingham branch of W. H. Smith, settling in Sparkhill
.
Melville's brother John had shown early talent as a painter and from the late 1920s the Melvilles both developed an interest in the emerging modernist movements in continental Europe, becoming regular patrons of Zwemmer's art bookshop in London's Charing Cross Road
. Meeting fellow Birmingham Surrealist
Conroy Maddox
in 1935 the three set out to challenge Birmingham's conservative artistic establishment. Although not a practicing artist himself Robert Melville had a thorough understanding of surrealism
's theoretical background and was to provide much of the group's intellectual underpinning, culminating in an open debate with Professor Thomas Bodkin
of the Barber Institute of Fine Arts
in 1939 that received widespread press coverage.
Robert had developed a particularly strong interest in Picasso
(then little-known in England) that led to an important friendship with Hugh Willoughby, a contemporary collector of Picasso's work based in Hove
. During the late 1930s Melville wrote a book on Picasso based on Willoughby's collection that was published in 1939 as Picasso: Master of the Phantom. As Melville described it: "without my knowledge my wife sent my little book to Oxford University Press. Curiously enough they accepted it".
Despite this, the book was to make Melville's reputation as a critic. He was appointed art critic of the Birmingham Evening Despatch in 1940 and had a series of articles published in The Listener in 1943 and 1944 before moving to London
in 1947 to work first for E. L. T. Mesens' London Gallery and later the Hanover Gallery.
In 1950 Melville wrote an article on Francis Bacon
in Cyril Connolly
's magazine Horizon that was to have lasting influence on Bacon's critical reputation, placing him firmly in the European tradition of Kafka
, Dalí
, Bunuel
and Picasso
.
Melville was the art critic of the New Statesman
from 1954 to 1976 and wrote monthly pieces for the Architectural Review
between 1950 and 1977. When he retired from the Architectural Review Hugh Casson
described him as "unchallenged as the most serious (and I don't mean solemn) and illuminating art critic in the country".
Melville's daughter, Roberta, was married to the late British Blues musician and broadcaster Alexis Korner
.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
art critic
Art critic
An art critic is a person who specializes in evaluating art. Their written critiques, or reviews, are published in newspapers, magazines, books and on web sites...
and journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
.
Along with the artists Conroy Maddox
Conroy Maddox
Conroy Maddox , was an English surrealist painter, collagist, writer and lecturer; and a key figure in the Birmingham Surrealist movement....
and John Melville
John Melville
John Melville was an English surrealist artist, described by Michel Remy in his book Surrealism in Britain as one of the "harbingers of surrealism" in Great Britain....
(his brother), he was a key member of the Birmingham Surrealists
Birmingham Surrealists
The Birmingham Surrealists were an informal grouping of artists and intellectuals associated with the Surrealist movement in art, based in Birmingham, England from the 1930s to the 1950s....
in the 1930s and 1940s. An early biographer of Picasso, he later become the art correspondent of the New Statesman
New Statesman
New Statesman is a British centre-left political and cultural magazine published weekly in London. Founded in 1913, and connected with leading members of the Fabian Society, the magazine reached a circulation peak in the late 1960s....
and the Architectural Review
Architectural Review
The Architectural Review is a monthly international architectural magazine published in London since 1896. Articles cover the built environment which includes landscape, building design, interior design and urbanism as well as theory of these subjects....
.
Biography
Melville was born in TottenhamTottenham
Tottenham is an area of the London Borough of Haringey, England, situated north north east of Charing Cross.-Toponymy:Tottenham is believed to have been named after Tota, a farmer, whose hamlet was mentioned in the Domesday Book; hence Tota's hamlet became Tottenham...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in 1905, the second son of an asphalt contractor's foreman. His family moved to the Harborne
Harborne
Harborne is an area three miles southwest from Birmingham city centre, England. It is a Birmingham City Council ward in the formal district and in the parliamentary constituency of Birmingham Edgbaston.- Geography :...
area of Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
in 1913 and after his secondary schooling Melville spent most of the 1920s in clerical jobs with a variety of industrial companies. In 1928 he married a sales assistant from a Birmingham branch of W. H. Smith, settling in Sparkhill
Sparkhill
Sparkhill is an inner-city area of Birmingham, England, situated between Springfield, Hall Green and Sparkbrook.-Etymology:Sparkhill takes its name from Spark Brook, a small stream that flows from Moseley to the River Cole in Small Heath. It was, as the name suggests, a hill that was situated...
.
Melville's brother John had shown early talent as a painter and from the late 1920s the Melvilles both developed an interest in the emerging modernist movements in continental Europe, becoming regular patrons of Zwemmer's art bookshop in London's Charing Cross Road
Charing Cross Road
Charing Cross Road is a street in central London running immediately north of St Martin-in-the-Fields to St Giles Circus and then becomes Tottenham Court Road...
. Meeting fellow Birmingham Surrealist
Birmingham Surrealists
The Birmingham Surrealists were an informal grouping of artists and intellectuals associated with the Surrealist movement in art, based in Birmingham, England from the 1930s to the 1950s....
Conroy Maddox
Conroy Maddox
Conroy Maddox , was an English surrealist painter, collagist, writer and lecturer; and a key figure in the Birmingham Surrealist movement....
in 1935 the three set out to challenge Birmingham's conservative artistic establishment. Although not a practicing artist himself Robert Melville had a thorough understanding of surrealism
Surrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....
's theoretical background and was to provide much of the group's intellectual underpinning, culminating in an open debate with Professor Thomas Bodkin
Thomas Bodkin
Professor Thomas Patrick Bodkin was an Irish lawyer, art historian, art collector and curator.Bodkin was Director of the National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin from 1927 to 1935 and founding Director of the Barber Institute of Fine Arts in Birmingham from 1935 until 1952, where he acquired the...
of the Barber Institute of Fine Arts
Barber Institute of Fine Arts
The Barber Institute of Fine Arts is an art gallery and concert hall in Birmingham, England. It is situated in purpose-built premises on the campus of the University of Birmingham....
in 1939 that received widespread press coverage.
Robert had developed a particularly strong interest in Picasso
Pablo Picasso
Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso known as Pablo Ruiz Picasso was a Spanish expatriate painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer, one of the greatest and most influential artists of the...
(then little-known in England) that led to an important friendship with Hugh Willoughby, a contemporary collector of Picasso's work based in Hove
Hove
Hove is a town on the south coast of England, immediately to the west of its larger neighbour Brighton, with which it forms the unitary authority Brighton and Hove. It forms a single conurbation together with Brighton and some smaller towns and villages running along the coast...
. During the late 1930s Melville wrote a book on Picasso based on Willoughby's collection that was published in 1939 as Picasso: Master of the Phantom. As Melville described it: "without my knowledge my wife sent my little book to Oxford University Press. Curiously enough they accepted it".
Despite this, the book was to make Melville's reputation as a critic. He was appointed art critic of the Birmingham Evening Despatch in 1940 and had a series of articles published in The Listener in 1943 and 1944 before moving to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in 1947 to work first for E. L. T. Mesens' London Gallery and later the Hanover Gallery.
In 1950 Melville wrote an article on Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon (painter)
Francis Bacon , was an Irish-born British figurative painter known for his bold, austere, graphic and emotionally raw imagery. Bacon's painterly but abstract figures typically appear isolated in glass or steel geometrical cages set against flat, nondescript backgrounds...
in Cyril Connolly
Cyril Connolly
Cyril Vernon Connolly was an English intellectual, literary critic and writer. He was the editor of the influential literary magazine Horizon and wrote Enemies of Promise , which combined literary criticism with an autobiographical exploration of why he failed to become the successful author of...
's magazine Horizon that was to have lasting influence on Bacon's critical reputation, placing him firmly in the European tradition of Kafka
Franz Kafka
Franz Kafka was a culturally influential German-language author of short stories and novels. Contemporary critics and academics, including Vladimir Nabokov, regard Kafka as one of the best writers of the 20th century...
, Dalí
Salvador Dalí
Salvador Domènec Felip Jacint Dalí i Domènech, Marquis de Púbol , commonly known as Salvador Dalí , was a prominent Spanish Catalan surrealist painter born in Figueres,Spain....
, Bunuel
Buñuel
Buñuel is a town and municipality located in the province and autonomous community of Navarre, northern Spain.-External links:*...
and Picasso
Pablo Picasso
Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso known as Pablo Ruiz Picasso was a Spanish expatriate painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer, one of the greatest and most influential artists of the...
.
Melville was the art critic of the New Statesman
New Statesman
New Statesman is a British centre-left political and cultural magazine published weekly in London. Founded in 1913, and connected with leading members of the Fabian Society, the magazine reached a circulation peak in the late 1960s....
from 1954 to 1976 and wrote monthly pieces for the Architectural Review
Architectural Review
The Architectural Review is a monthly international architectural magazine published in London since 1896. Articles cover the built environment which includes landscape, building design, interior design and urbanism as well as theory of these subjects....
between 1950 and 1977. When he retired from the Architectural Review Hugh Casson
Hugh Casson
Sir Hugh Maxwell Casson, KCVO, RA, RDI, was a British architect, interior designer, artist, and influential writer and broadcaster on 20th century design. He is particularly noted for his role as director of architecture at the 1951 Festival of Britain on London's South Bank.Casson's family...
described him as "unchallenged as the most serious (and I don't mean solemn) and illuminating art critic in the country".
Melville's daughter, Roberta, was married to the late British Blues musician and broadcaster Alexis Korner
Alexis Korner
Alexis Korner was a blues musician and radio broadcaster, who has sometimes been referred to as "a Founding Father of British Blues"...
.