Leonard Rosoman

Leonard Rosoman's career saw him travel the world as an Official War Artist in the Second World War. He is also a member of the Royal Academy, an illustrator and teacher. The young Leonard dodged the family business by getting a scholarship to the Edward VII School of Art in Durham and went on to paint and teach. When war broke out Leonard was drafted into the Auxiliary Fire Service in London but he didn't stop painting, and he used his experiences to create some of his finest work. This drew him to the attention of the Home Office, and Sir Kenneth Clarke asked him if he would be an Official War Artist. He agreed and was appointed an official war artist to the Admiralty and was posted to the British Pacific Fleet. In April 1945 was posted to Sydney and from there he joined HMS Formidable.

After the war Leonard went back to teaching, first in London then to Edinburgh College of Art in 1948, and later on to the Royal College of Art where he met his most memorable student - David Hockney: "I didn't find him at all difficult, but it was a little bit scary because if anybody ever had something written on his forehead, he had. Every single member of that staff pretty well guaranteed that when David left, he would be a success of some kind. He was a very rare bird - he had a quality of understatement - rare and important in its way."

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Choices

1.

Ludwig van Beethoven

1st movement of Piano Sonata in E

Soloist: Myra Hess

Others who chose this artist

2.

Kathleen Ferrier

Stuttering Lovers

Others who chose this artist

3.

Duke Ellington & His Washingtonians

Black and Tan Fantasy

Others who chose this artist

4.

Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein II

Oklahoma

Artist: Original Broadway Cast

Others who chose this artist

5.

Maurice Ravel

Piano Trio in A minor

Orchestra: Florestan Trio

Others who chose this artist

6.

Tchaikovsky

Sleeping Beauty - Panorama Act 2

Orchestra: Philadelphia Orchestra Conductor: Eugene Ormandy

Others who chose this artist

7.

Édith Piaf

La Vie en Rose

Others who chose this artist

8.

Castaway's favourite

Glenn Miller & his Orchestra

I Got A Gal in Kalamazoo

Book

Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce

Others who chose this author

Luxury item

A sloping lawn

Others who chose a similar luxury