A Lesson in Art and Life: The Colourful World of Cedric Morris and Arthur Lett Haines

Interest in mid-20th century British artists and the world they inhabited is growing internationally – prices are rising and exhibitions proliferate. This biography focuses on the couple who were at the centre of the Modern British art scene: Cedric Morris (1889-1982) and Arthur Lett Haines (1894-1978). Both men studied in Paris in the 1920s where they absorbed the work of the French Post Impressionists, Cubists and Surrealists. Later in London, Morris became a sought-after painter of flowers, birds and landscapes, and a friend of Augustus John and Ben Nicholson. Lett was hailed as Britain’s first Surrealist. They gave fabulous parties attended by the cream of creative London.