, Cambridge Jim Ede was born in
Penarth, Wales, the son of solicitor Edward Hornby Ede and Mildred, a teacher. He attended
the Leys School in Cambridge (1909-12). He began to train as a painter under
Stanhope Forbes at
Newlyn and then at
Edinburgh College of Art before the
First World War interrupted his studies. He was commissioned in September 1914, serving with the
South Wales Borderers and the
Indian Army. He relinquished his commission in consequence of ill health, and was granted the rank of captain, 29 July 1919. After the war, he continued his studies at the
Slade School of Art. In 1921, Ede became assistant curator at the
National Gallery of British Art (renamed the
Tate Gallery in 1932) in London while continuing to study part-time at the Slade. Shortly after, he married Helen Schlapp whom he had met in Edinburgh. Her father Otto Schlapp lectured at the
University of Edinburgh and in 1926 became the University's first Professor of German.
Robert Schlapp was her brother. While working at the Tate, Ede tried to promote the work of contemporary artists, including
Picasso and
Mondrian. However, he was often thwarted by the more conservative attitudes of the gallery directors. During his time at the Tate, Ede formed numerous friendships with
avant-garde artists of the day. In the process, he acquired many works of art that were largely under-appreciated at the time. In 1927 Ede had acquired
Sophie Brzeska's estate from the
Treasury Solicitor after she died
intestate in 1925. This acquisition included not only her writings, but also the estate of
Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, with many of his works and papers. Ede drew extensively on the letters written by Gaudier to Brzeska, and her writings and other material, when he published
A Life of Gaudier-Brzeska (London: W. Heinemann) in 1930; the 1931 and later editions are entitled
Savage Messiah. Ede's book became the basis of
Ken Russell's
film of the same name. ==Middle years==