Joan Crossley-Holland facts for kids

Joan Mary Crossley-Holland (born Joan Cowper; 3 April 1912 – 12 January 2005) was an English gallery owner and a talented potter. She studied at the Central School of Arts and Crafts. Later, she started her career in pottery at Royal Doulton.

Joan took a break from her work to raise her children. She also worked as a personal assistant for a year to the Maharana of Mewar at the Lake Palace Hotel in India. In 1966, she became the director of the Bear Lane Gallery in Oxford. However, she left in 1968 to open her own gallery, the Oxford Gallery. This happened after she disagreed with others about whether pottery should be considered fine art. By the time she retired in 1986, Crossley-Holland had managed 186 exhibitions, showing the work of many different artists.

Early Life and Education

Joan Cowper was born on April 3, 1912, in Peatling Magna, Leicestershire, England. Her father, Claude Marriott Lovell Cowper, was a doctor, and her mother, Mary Bourne, was a nurse and artist. Joan was an only child and grew up in Leicestershire and Buckinghamshire.

She first went to Plymouth Brethren Boys' School, Northfield. There, she was the captain of the school's football team. Later, she attended Wycombe Abbey, where she learned about pottery and science. From 1931 to 1934, Joan studied pottery at the Central School of Arts and Crafts in London. This course made her love pottery for her whole life. It also helped bring back the arts and crafts movement in Britain during those years.

Joan's Career in Art

After finishing her studies, Joan Crossley-Holland returned to Leicestershire. She set up her own studio to create pottery. In 1936, she started working as a designer at Royal Doulton in Lambeth. She stayed there until 1939. Her pots were known for being simple and modern, and they were shown in famous stores like Heal's and Liberty.

When World War II began, Joan stopped working to focus on her family. She became a housewife and raised her children for the next twenty years. During this time, she lived in Buckinghamshire and later in Hampstead. She also worked for the Social Survey, which collected information about people's lives.

Working in India and Oxford

In the early 1960s, Joan had a unique opportunity. She worked for a year as a personal assistant to the Maharana of Mewar in Udaipur, India. She lived and worked at the beautiful Lake Palace Hotel.

After returning to the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s, she became the director of the Bear Lane Gallery in Oxford in 1966. This gallery was supported by the Arts Council. Joan often disagreed with the gallery's leaders about whether pottery counted as "art." She believed that showing craftsmanship would fill a gap in their exhibition schedule.

Founding the Oxford Gallery

Because of these disagreements, Joan decided to open her own gallery. She famously thought, "if you can't join them, beat them." With help from 29 friends who became shareholders, she opened the Oxford Gallery on High Street, Oxford in 1968.

The Oxford Gallery was one of the first galleries of its kind. It focused on both commercial crafts and fine art. Under Joan's leadership, the gallery held 187 exhibitions. More than 2,000 artists showed their work there. They displayed many types of art, including prints, glass, pottery, jewelry, and even some paintings. Joan was one of the first to show the furniture of John Makepeace, the pottery of Lucie Rie and Hans Coper, and the jewelry of Wendy Ramshaw.

In the 1970s and early 1980s, Joan worked with the Bradford Print Biennale. She also raised money from garden exhibitions designed by Harold Peto. Joan retired from the Oxford Gallery in 1986 and moved to Walsham le Willows, Suffolk. To honor her work, a special exhibition was held at the Barbican Conservatory in early 1986.

Personal Life and Recognition

Joan Crossley-Holland was married to the composer Peter Crossley-Holland from 1939 to 1970. They had two children: Sally and Kevin Crossley-Holland, who became a famous children's author and poet.

In 1983, Joan received the OBE award for her "services to the arts." She was the first independent art gallery owner to receive this honor. Joan passed away from Alzheimer's disease on January 12, 2005, at a nursing home in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk.

Joan's Impact on Art

Marina Vaizey, an art critic, described Joan as a "small, bustling, and determined" person. She noted Joan's "old-fashioned" look and her love for quiet colors like green and rust red. She also mentioned Joan's interesting choice of modern jewelry.

When Joan retired, Victor Margie, the director of the Crafts Council, called her a "crusader and missionary." He praised her "dogged persistence" and her dedication to helping people understand visual arts better. He said she earned the respect of everyone working in the crafts field. An article in The Independent newspaper stated that Joan and her colleagues "quite simply changed the map of craft in Britain in the second half of the 20th century."