Ruskin School of Art

The Ruskin grew out the Oxford School of Art, which was founded in 1865 and later became Oxford Brookes University.[2] It was headed by Alexander Macdonald and housed in the University Galleries (subsequently the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology).[3]

In 1869 John Ruskin was appointed Slade Professor of Fine Art at Oxford. Critical of the teaching methods at the Oxford School of Art, he set out to found the Ruskin School of Drawing in 1871 in the same, but restructured, premises. Macdonald was also retained as its head and became, therefore, the first Ruskin Master until his death in 1921.[3][4][5]

It was renamed to Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art in 1945, and to Ruskin School of Art in 2014. The Ruskin remained at the Ashmolean until 1975 when it moved to 74 High Street. An annexe at 128 Bullingdon Road was redeveloped in 2015, and the Ruskin now operates across both sites.[6] The Slade School of Fine Art relocated to the Ruskin for the duration of the Second World War.

The school was originally founded to encourage artisanship and technical skills. It now provides undergraduate and postgraduate qualifications in the production and study of visual art. The subject is taught as a living element of contemporary culture with a broad range of historical and theoretical references.[5]

The school was traditionally headed by an appointed Ruskin Master. From 2002 to 2010, Richard Wentworth was the last to hold this position which, since then, remained vacant.[5]

Since 2017, the current Head of School is Professor Anthony Gardner.[5]

Previous Ruskin Masters were:

• Stephen Farthing 1990–2000
• David Tindle 1985–1987
• Philip Morsberger 1971–1984
• Richard Naish 1964–1971
• Percy Horton 1949–1964
• Albert Rutherston 1929–1949
• Sydney Carline 1922–1929
• Alexander Macdonald 1871–1922

• Robert Hewison, John Ruskin: the Argument of the Eye, Princeton University Press 1976, Chapter Seven: Action (online version at Victorian Web)

• Ruskin School of Art
• University of Oxford Admissions