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East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing

The East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing was an art learning environment established by Cedric Morris and Arthur Lett-Haines in East Anglia in 1937. It was run on very idiosyncratic lines based upon the "free rein" approach that was then current in French academies. It had a great influence on many Suffolk artists and made an important contribution to art teaching in the east of England for forty years.

Foundation
The school was founded by Morris and Lett-Haines on 12 April 1937 in an old house in the centre of Dedham, Essex. In addition to the proprietors, there was a third teacher- Ian Brinkworth- a secretary, model and one student when it opened. By December 1937 there were 60 students and the school held its first exhibition. The school was described in a prospectus as "an oasis of decency for artists outside the system". Lett-Haines taught theory, whereas Morris taught by encouragement and example. Lucian Freud was among the earliest students joining at the age of seventeen in 1939. ==Benton End==
Benton End
In July 1939, the Dedham building was destroyed by fire. The traditionalist local artist Alfred Munnings had himself driven round its smoking ruins gloating at the destruction of what he saw as a dangerously radical tendency. Undeterred, Morris told the students to draw the burnt-out wreck and arranged emergency facilities in a local pub. Towards the end of 1939 Lett and Cedric