David Fawcett sketching on the beach at Deal, Kent. Image: courtesy of Mandy Patton.
David Fawcett was born in Bradford in 1935 and attended Bradford Grammar School, where he met fellow artist, David Hockney. In 1954 , they both joined Bradford College of Art and studied full-time there.
After gaining a National Diploma in Design with honours, Fawcett continued his studies at the Birmingham Regional College of Art, where he gained a teaching diploma.
He moved to Kent, where he taught art at Walmer Secondary School, before moving to art teaching posts as a senior art master at Deal Grammar School, and as art tutor at Folkestone and Dover Art Colleges.
David Hockney shared an art studio with David Fawcett in Kent for a while, and Hockney was the best man at Fawcett’s wedding in 1958.
‘Castle Among the Trees’. In a private collection.
Fawcett’s impressionistic work was exhibited in the Paris Salon, the Royal Academy, and in Scottish and Welsh galleries. During the Lord Mayoralty of Alderman Dr. David Black in Bradford (1957-8), David Fawcett painted him wearing his robes and chain of office.
Street Scene. Image: Tennants Auction House
In 1962 Fawcett was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA) and in the same year had a solo exhibition of his work at the New Metropole Arts Centre in Folkestone.
He was killed in a plane crash in 1973.
Bradford street scene in winter. Image: Tennants Auction House