Waltham Forest College - Forest Road, London, UK
N 51° 35.456 W 000° 00.606
30U E 707102 N 5719778
This Waltham Forest Heritage blue plaque is attached to the south east face of Waltham Forest College at the entrance. The college is located on the north west side of Forest Road in Walthamstow.
Waymark Code: WMW8F4
Location: London, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 07/24/2017
Views: 0
The wording on the elliptical blue plaque reads:
Waltham Forest Heritage
Peter Blake, Ian Dury,
Peter Greenaway & Ken Russell
Erected in 1938 as The South West Essex Technical College,
Waltham Forest College has contributed to
the careers of several notable talents.
Musician Ian Dury, Filmmakers Peter Greenaway
and Ken Russell, attended the art school
where artist Peter Blake was a lecturer.
Wikipedia has an article about Ian Dury that tells us:
Ian Robins Dury (12 May 1942 – 27 March 2000) was an English rock and roll singer-songwriter and actor who rose to fame during the late 1970s, during the punk and new wave era of rock music. He was the lead singer of Ian Dury and the Blockheads and before that of Kilburn and the High Roads.
He left the school at the age of 16 to study painting at the Walthamstow College of Art, having gained GCE 'O' Levels in English Language, English Literature and Art.
Wikipedia has an article about Peter Greenaway that advises:
Peter Greenaway, CBE (born 5 April 1942 in Newport, Wales) is a British film director, screenwriter, and artist. His films are noted for the distinct influence of Renaissance and Baroque painting, and Flemish painting in particular. Common traits in his film are the scenic composition and illumination and the contrasts of costume and nudity, nature and architecture, furniture and people, sexual pleasure and painful death.
In 1962, Greenaway began studies at Walthamstow College of Art, where a fellow student was musician Ian Dury (later cast in The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover). Greenaway trained as a muralist for three years; he made his first film, Death of Sentiment, a churchyard furniture essay filmed in four large London cemeteries.
Wikipedia has an article about Ken Russell that tells us:
Henry Kenneth Alfred "Ken" Russell (3 July 1927 – 27 November 2011) was an English film director, known for his pioneering work in television and film and for his flamboyant and controversial style. Critics have accused him of being obsessed with sexuality and the Catholic Church. His films in the main were liberal adaptations of existing texts, or biographies, notably of composers of the Romantic era. Russell began directing for the BBC, where he made creative adaptations of composers' lives which were unusual for the time. He also directed many feature films independently and for studios.
He is best known for his Oscar-winning films Women in Love (1969), The Devils (1971), The Who's Tommy (1975), and the science fiction film Altered States (1980). Russell also directed several films based on the lives of classical music composers, such as Elgar, Delius, Tchaikovsky, Mahler, and Liszt.
Film critic Mark Kermode, speaking in 2006, and attempting to sum up the director's achievement, called Russell, "somebody who proved that British cinema didn't have to be about kitchen-sink realism—it could be every bit as flamboyant as Fellini. Later in his life he turned to making low-budget experimental films such as Lion's Mouth and Revenge of the Elephant Man, and they are as edgy and 'out there' as ever".
Ken Russell died of natural causes on 27 November 2011 at the age of 84.
He was educated at private schools in Walthamstow and at Pangbourne College, and studied photography at Walthamstow Technical College (now part of the University of East London).
Wikipedia also has an article about Peter Blake:
Sir Peter Thomas Blake, CBE, RDI, RA (born 25 June 1932) is an English pop artist, best known for co-creating the sleeve design for the Beatles' album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. His other best known works include the cover of the Band Aid single "Do They Know It's Christmas?", and the Live Aid concert poster. Blake also designed the 2012 Brit Award statuette.
One of the best known British pop artists, Blake is considered to be a prominent figure in the pop art movement. Central to his paintings are his interest in images from popular culture which have infused his collages. In 2002 he was knighted at Buckingham Palace for his services to art.