Marion Richardson Archive

c.1920-1946

History

Marion Richardson (1892-1946) was an influential art teacher and pioneer of the child art movement. She trained at Birmingham College of Art and Design. Her first job was at Dudley Girls High School. She later worked at the London Day Training College and as an Inspector of Art to London County Council. She developed methods of teaching art that were far removed from the traditional emphasis on copying and technical skill. Instead she aimed to arouse children’s visual awareness, to encourage self-expression and enable pupils to evaluate their own work. She also developed a system for teaching handwriting based on patterns and natural movements. She pioneered the exhibition of children’s work as art and introduced craft education into prisons. A friend of Roger Fry and Herbert Read, she lectured and published widely.

Content

The Archive covers the whole span of Marion Richardson’s career and work. It includes correspondence, diaries, photographs, press clippings and lecture notes. There are several hundred examples of children’s artwork and samples of handwriting. The Archive also contains recent research on Marion Richardson. This includes experiments with her methods by teachers in the 1980s and 1990s.

Access

You can make an appointment to view this collection. A summary collection description and a partial card index are available in the Archives.

Reference code: 2794 - MR