Jeffrey Camp, (1923 - 2020), English

“I was drawn to this poster straight away because of its bold colour and simple design. The warm orange background and the cheeky figure from Jeffrey Camp’s Red Bath I give it a lovely vintage 1970s feel.

What I like about it most is its simplicity – just a strong image and beautiful colour that works really well on a wall. The Serpentine Gallery and Arts Council details also add a bit of authentic exhibition history.

Now professionally framed by Edinburgh Arts, it’s a great piece of retro gallery design ready to hang.”

Jeffrey Camp was a British painter, draughtsman and influential teacher, known for his powerful figurative paintings and expressive drawings of the human form. Born in Oulton Broad, Suffolk in 1923, Camp studied at the Slade School of Fine Art in London, where he later became one of the most respected teachers of drawing in Britain.

Camp’s work focuses largely on the human body and the act of looking, often exploring themes of vulnerability, perception and mortality. His paintings frequently depict figures seen from unusual angles or in moments of quiet introspection, rendered with loose but highly observant brushwork.

Alongside his career as a painter, Camp became an influential educator. He taught for many years at the Slade School of Fine Art, where he served as Professor of Drawing from 1989 to 1998, shaping generations of British artists through his emphasis on careful observation and the discipline of drawing from life.

Camp exhibited widely throughout his career. His work was shown at major institutions including the Serpentine Gallery in London, where the exhibition Paintings of Night and Day took place in 1975. His paintings are held in numerous public collections, including the Tate, the Arts Council Collection, and several UK museums and galleries.

Today Jeffrey Camp is regarded as an important figure in post-war British figurative painting and as one of the most influential drawing teachers in modern British art education.