Brian Bourke tells Brian McAvera of his quest for drama and colour in 1950s London and his determination to master drawing, despite his ejection from St Martin’s College
Brian McAvera: Brian, as a young man you were in London for six years during the 1950s. This was a particularly interesting period in terms of art with Bacon, Freud and what has been dubbed The School of London. At the ICA Herbert Read and Lawrence Alloway were stirring things up and there was an enormous range of European — and by 1956 American and Australian art as well. You had brief spells at both Goldsmiths and St Martin’s. Can you give us a portrait of yourself, your interests and your art at that period?
Brian Bourke: I wasn’t reading Herbert Read, but I was looking at art. I spent a lot of time in Central London, working in various jobs, but basically my stays in the colleges were brief! I really don’t want to labour it but I was totally poverty-stricken, being Paddy-in-the-Smoke, moving from one job and one establishment to another. I was on the move a great deal, but always with an avid interest in art. The ancients were the ones who really interested me, the ones at the National Gallery. When you’re hungry, you need great comforts. I found them in the National Gallery, of which I have great memories
