product gallery

A Lesson In Art & Life

The Colourful World of Cedric Morris & Arthur Lett Haines

by Hugh St Clair

Cedric Morris (1889-1982) and Arthur Lett-Haines (known as Lett) (1894-1978) were an extraordinary couple who were at the centre of the Modern British art scene and were hugely influential across the spheres of gardening and cookery as well as art. After studying in Paris in the 1920s, they moved to London, where they gave fabulous parties attended by the cream of creative London. Morris became a sought-after painter of flowers, birds and landscapes, while Lett was hailed as Britain's first Surrealist. Together they founded the East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing at Benton End in Suffolk, attended by Lucian Freud and Maggi Hambling, where the atmosphere was described as "robust and coarse, exquisite and sensitive all at once, also faintly dangerous". Lett ran the school and was a superb cook who swapped recipes with Elizabeth David. Cedric Morris became an award-winning plantsman and poppy and iris breeder. He was an acknowledged influence on many gardeners, including Beth Chatto. This biography, revised and updated in this paperback edition, is a fascinating portrait of a unique couple who were hugely influential across the spheres of gardening and cookery as well as art.
READ MORE

on order from publisher

Please note: Pre-order and on order items will ship as soon as they arrive in store.

Pages:

224

Published:

12 Sept 2023

Format

Hardback

Publisher

Pimpernel Press

ISBN:

9781914902055

Cedric Morris (1889-1982) and Arthur Lett-Haines (known as Lett) (1894-1978) were an extraordinary couple who were at the centre of the Modern British art scene and were hugely influential across the spheres of gardening and cookery as well as art. After studying in Paris in the 1920s, they moved to London, where they gave fabulous parties attended by the cream of creative London. Morris became a sought-after painter of flowers, birds and landscapes, while Lett was hailed as Britain's first Surrealist. Together they founded the East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing at Benton End in Suffolk, attended by Lucian Freud and Maggi Hambling, where the atmosphere was described as "robust and coarse, exquisite and sensitive all at once, also faintly dangerous". Lett ran the school and was a superb cook who swapped recipes with Elizabeth David. Cedric Morris became an award-winning plantsman and poppy and iris breeder. He was an acknowledged influence on many gardeners, including Beth Chatto. This biography, revised and updated in this paperback edition, is a fascinating portrait of a unique couple who were hugely influential across the spheres of gardening and cookery as well as art.
$45.00