The Art and Life of Francis Hewlett

From 1960 to 1981 Francis Hewlett was Head of Painting at Falmouth College of Art, a vital figure in promoting the artistic and academic achievements of the College. He combined teaching and administration with his own painting, and later with ceramic sculpture, working three-dimensionally with images he had developed as a painter. His paintings of Cornwall made during this period and following his retirement from teaching are an important contribution to the artistic heritage of the region. His innovative sculpture gained considerable renown for its technical bravura as well as for its iconoclastic humour. From the moment he left school Francis Hewlett dedicated his life to art. This was a surprising choice for a boy raised in difficult circumstances in Bristol, with no artistic background. His exceptional early talent as a draughtsman gained him a place at Bristol College of Art, and then at the most prestigious art school in the land, the Slade School of Art in London. In 1952 he also won a national art competition which earned him a year's study in Paris, all expenses paid.The drawings he made during these student years were of such informed intensity that he was able to use them to make remarkable paintings over thirty years later. Throughout his life Hewlett remained a committed realist, against the tide of fashion. In his diaries he mused on the role of the artist and on the nature of his own art: