Art has been studied at Eton for hundreds of years to different extents. 1763 saw the first Drawing Master, Alexander Cozens, appointed to teach art to boys during untimetabled hours. Over the next 100 years, four masters took on the role of senior Drawing Master including members of the infamous Evans family, most notably, watercolourist William Evans. By 1868 the Public Schools Act meant that all Upper boys had to take 2 hours of ‘extra studies’ a week; this could include art, but also maths, science, humanities and modern languages. It was not until the 1960s that art became part of the curriculum for boys to study and take exams in.
The Drawing Schools on Common Lane were built in 1924 during the tenure of Eric Powell. Powell was succeeded as senior Drawing Master in 1933 by Llewelyn Fredrick Menzies-Jones. Menzies-Jones kept a set of five photograph albums of his time at Eton including activities in the Drawing Schools, making these some of the earliest images we have of the Drawing Schools. He encouraged different types of art, both in the classroom, working with still life, but he also took the boys around the town, occasionally down to the river to draw on their surroundings for inspiration in their artwork.
Menzies-Jones was nicknamed the ‘master potter’ by his boys, as he also encouraged pottery within the boys’ studies.
From his five photograph albums, it is clear Menzies-Jones was very proactive with his pupils, supporting them not only in the Drawing Schools, but during sports events, with their personal lives and their wider education. Below is a small selection of photographs from his albums which showcase his involvement with the school and speaks volumes to the type of man he was and how valued he must have been with the boys.
Edward Harris St John
with his Galago, PA-A.49:21-2013
Junior boy steeplechase
PA-A.50:36-2013
Boys running across School Yard
PA-A.51:83-2013
The installation of Provost Cecil, Lord Quickswood, 1936
Marathon runners passing Eton, 1952
PA-A.53:100-2013
This is before the ornate street lamp, seen here in the middle of the road and known as Burning Bush, was moved to its current location outside School Library.
Puppet show
PA-A.52:146-2013
Laura Martin, Archives Assistant
