STRAND, Robert

1922 - 2009

Robert Alister Strand was born at Kingston, Surrey on 4 March 1922, son of Alister Carmichael Strand (18 June 1891-6 December 1973), an artist & teacher, and his wife Jane née McArthur (7 March 1892-16 June 1967), who married at Kingston in 1921 and in 1939 were living at 14 Lismore Road, Croydon. On leaving Christ's Hospital School in 1938, having passed the National Drawing Examination, Robert was accepted at the Croydon College of Art & Design and in 1941 passed the entrance examination for the Royal College of Art but war service intervened, and he served as an officer in the Royal West Kent Regiment serving with distinction in Burma. After demobilisation he took up his studies at the Royal College of Art in the painting school also spending time in the school of engraving. In 1949 he was appointed assistant teacher of art at Horsham School of Art and several art teaching positions followed. He married at Cheadle, Staffordshire in 1954, Kathleen Molly Strand née Craddock, and the following year was appointed deputy principal of Stoke-on-Trent College of Art. In 1961 there was a return to the south-east when appointed Principal of Epsom School of Art where he remained for some nine years. When the Council for National Academic Awards was formed in 1974, Strand was appointed Registrar for Art and Design, playing a key role in the development of degree and postgraduate qualifications in these areas. He retired in 1982, having been awarded an OBE, and settled at Middleton, Suffolk where he continued his painting and wood engraving. A founder member of the Suffolk Group of Artists and produced a substantial amount of work during his time at Middleton and served as vice-president of the Southwold Art Circle. Robert Alister Strand died at Middleton, Saxmundham on 26 February 2009 and his wife, known as Molly, died the following year leaving a son and a daughter.

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Works by This Artist