Nicholas Ardizzone; cinematographer & cataloguer of father's art
Hyfler/Rosner
Times of London
Nicholas Ardizzone, student of the graphic arts, was born on
September 8, 1939. He died on December 22, 2004, aged 65.
Cinematographer who catalogued and promoted his father's
artistic legacy.
FOR all his manifold and much-loved work as artist and
illustrator, Edward Ardizzone continues to be most fondly
remembered for the picturebook series which began life in
the 1930s. The first was written for his daughter
Christianna, aka Lucy Brown, and the second for his son
Philip, who, as Little Tim, was to become the hero of the
series. For the younger son of the family, however, a
different picture book was composed -probably commissioned
circa 1948 by Ardizzone's friend Graham Greene -Nicholas and
the Fast Moving Diesel.
Nicholas Ardizzone was born in 1939, shortly before his
father was appointed an official war artist. Schooling at
Stonyhurst and the Oratory was not a success and he engaged
in various avocations on the fringes of the art world before
taking up cinematography. This took him to Australia for a
number of years where he worked for the Australian
Broadcasting Commission and for Film Australia. After his
return to England in 1978 he lectured for a while at the
Film School of the London College of Printing.
With the death of his mother in 1992 (his father had died in
1979), Nicholas turned to the demanding task of cataloguing
Edward Ardizzone's work as a war artist, most of which was
housed at the Imperial War Museum. Making impressive use of
new electronic methods in taxonomy he produced a richly
detailed account of his father's drawings and paintings for
which he was awarded a doctorate by the Royal College of
Art. This work proved a useful foundation for further
explorations and, with Francis Tinsley, he set about
organising the 1999 exhibition at Camberwell College of Art,
Running Away to Sea, which marked in grand style the
celebrations of the centenary of his father's birth the
following year.
By this time he had also recognised the need for a full
appraisal of Edward Ardizzone's place as a printmaker and in
2000 he published his catalogue of the prints and
lithographs, including menu designs and posters, that made
up Edward Ardizzone's world. The book's success was enhanced
by a touring exhibition, initiated at the London Institute
Gallery, and Nicholas found himself in much demand as a
lecturer and advisor on the subject of his father's art.
He is survived by his wife, Antoinette, and by two sons from
previous marriages.