Abstract :
There is a ‘dominant’ history of art and design
education in Britain. This has been established
by five books published in the 1960s and 1970s.
They are Quentin Bell’s The Schools of Design
(1963), Gordon Sutton’s Artisan or Artist? (1967),
Richard Carline’s Draw They Must (1968), Stuart
Macdonald’s The History and Philosophy of Art
Education (1970), and Clive Ashwin’s Art
Education: Documents and Policies 1768–1975
(1975). They all offer a substantially corroborative
account of the history of art and design education
based on their predecessor. This is
particularly evident in their explanation of the
origin of public art and design education in Britain
in the early nineteenth century. After a gap of
thirty years Stuart Macdonald’s book is to be
republished. The news is a cause for celebration
but also for concern, in that its reappearance
may well further entrench the dominance of the
collective voice of these five books. In an attempt
to keep historical research alive and kicking in the
field of art and design education, this article challenges
the explanation offered by these authors
for the introduction of public art and design
education in the 1830s.
