Herbert Read
Herbert Edward Read (1893-1968) was a notable English poet, art critic, and educator, known for his contributions to literature and the arts during the 20th century. Born on a farm in North Yorkshire, Read faced early adversity when he lost his father at a young age, leading to his time in an orphanage. He later moved to Leeds, where he began his academic journey while working as a bank clerk. His experiences in World War I significantly influenced his poetry, and he became well-connected in literary circles, forming friendships with prominent figures like T.S. Eliot.
After the war, Read transitioned into roles at the Victoria and Albert Museum and later in academia, ultimately becoming a professor of fine arts at Edinburgh University. His marriage to Evelyn Roff ended unhappily, but he later found companionship with violinist Margaret Ludwig, with whom he had several children, including novelist Piers Paul Read. Throughout his career, Read focused on the intersection of art, society, and education, publishing influential works such as "Education Through Art." Recognized for his literary contributions, he was knighted in 1953 and remained an active writer and lecturer until his death from cancer in 1968.
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Herbert Read
Art Critic
- Born: December 4, 1893
- Birthplace: Kirbymoorside, Yorkshire, England
- Died: June 12, 1968
- Place of death: Malton, Yorkshire, England
Biography
Herbert Edward Read was born in 1893 on a farm near Kirbymoorside in North Yorkshire, England, the eldest of three sons of Herbert and Eliza Strickland Read. The family lived by tenant farming in a region just south of the North York Moors that was almost beyond the reach of industrial England. Read’s idyllic childhood ended at age nine when his father died and the family gave up its farm; Herbert and his brother William were sent to an orphanage in Halifax, West Yorkshire.
In 1908 Read left the orphanage to live with his mother in Leeds, where he worked as a bank clerk and began to prepare to enter Leeds University. In 1914 he met his future wife, Evelyn Roff, also a student at Leeds. The same year brought the beginning of World War I, in which Read served with distinction as an army officer. War was a recurring theme in his poetry for a number of years, even as his literary pursuits broadened to include essays, art, literary criticism, and a novel.
Following the war, Read found employment first as a civil servant and then as a curator of ceramics and stained glass at the Victoria and Albert Museum. Read had married Evelyn Roff in 1919, and a son, John, was born in 1923. The marriage was an unhappy one and ended in the early thirties.
In the 1920’s, Read moved in advanced London literary circles and formed friendships with poets of the stature of Ezra Pound and T. S. Eliot. His friendship with the slightly older Eliot was especially significant. Read, who had never left his native Yorkshire until he entered the army, was favored by the urbane Eliot and closely assisted Eliot for seventeen years with the journal Criterion, founded in 1922. Eliot, in turn, helped Read advance into the academic world. With a growing reputation in art history, particularly modern art, Read was appointed in 1931 to a professorial post in fine arts at Edinburgh University, which he left in 1933 to become editor of the influential Burlington Magazine.
While teaching in Edinburgh, Read met a young violinist, Margaret Ludwig, whom he married several years later. Three sons and one daughter were born to the couple, and one son, Piers Paul Read, became a noted novelist and nonfiction writer. Though Read had always felt that the core of his work was poetry, from the late thirties he was increasingly known for lectures, essays, and books on intertwined themes of art, society, creativity, and education. One book, Education Through Art (1943), has influenced scholars and educators for decades. In recognition of this work as well as “services to literature” over four decades, Read was knighted in 1953.
In 1949, Read acquired a farmhouse and land in Yorkshire, less than three miles from where he had spent his first decade. Commuting between there and London for the next two decades, he was in demand internationally as an author and lecturer until his death from cancer on June 12, 1968.