Eric Gordon, right, with painter David Caldwell at HSoA

• BRANCUSI is reported to have said: “Picasso’s eyes were like bullets coming at you”.

This was my first thought when I met Eric Gordon, equally as piercing was his intellect, (Eric Gordon: Tributes to Camden’s great chronicler as founder and editor of CNJ dies at 89).

We met over the phone after Eric had read my article on Henry Moore written for the BBC News website creative pages.

He was intrigued by Hampstead School of Art and its history, and its links to local man Henry Moore, patron to the art school throughout his lifetime.

He was a great supporter and took huge interest in the construction process involved in the new art school building.

He was a great supporter of the Hampstead Summer Festival always attending and documenting the awards ceremony, interacting with the volunteer committee and praising the work done for the Camden community.

Over the years Eric invited me to write articles on Moore and Kenneth Clark, Barbara Hepworth and Modernism in Hampstead, exhibitions at the Ben Uri Gallery and most recently an article about the Oslo Picassos, which fascinated him.

He wrote about my public sculptures on Hampstead Heath and in Chile, Saudi Arabia and London, and the patrons of HSoA Sir Frank Bowling and Alan Gouk, Francisco Gazitua and Dolorosa Sinaga.

With each article he would carefully call the artist and speak with them and extract the exact tincture of essential ingredients relevant to the situation.

When Sir Frank had a major retrospective at Tate in August 2019, Eric joined me at the private view and visibly enjoyed the live music by Ben Bowling “Doc Bowling and his Blues Professors” it was a great evening, glamorous and exciting.

Eric had a knack of calling me whenever I was abroad, I have spoken to him from Carrara , Bologna, Santiago, Oslo, Galicia, the conversation always started like this “oh no are you away again’ – it became a recurring joke.

Concerned about the impact of the coronavirus crisis on the art school Eric would call me with tips or questions to buoy up our survival.

He was both impressed and comforted by our good management and commitment to students, our striving to widen participation and the incorporation of those affected by homelessness and many other life challenges.

Sam, Eric’s wife is a talented portrait painter who has attended classes at HSoA and been noticed; this amused Eric greatly saying that Sam was the artistic one in the family. Lately Eric’s grand-daughter attended classes extending the family creativity further.

I last spoke with Eric from his hospital bed, the sculptor and surgeon Nadi Hakim had attended to him, Nadey is also a part of the HSoA art school family!

Another great point of amusement to Eric was what the called “the long tentacles of the art school”, and these continue to touch so many. I miss him.

ISABEL H LANGTRY
Principal, Hampstead School of Art