Pattern and print

To mark the centenary of his birth, Eastbourne printmaker Robert Tavener is being celebrated with a hometown exhibition

- Emma Mason

This year marks the centenary of the birth of artist and printmaker Robert Tavener (1920 2004). Although born in London, Tavener is often thought of as a Sussex artist because of his images of Sussex landscapes and seascapes. He lived in Eastbourne for more than 50 years and his home was at the foot of the Downs, a place that he loved. The Sussex landscape influenced much of his work with recurring images of the Downs, ploughed fields, flint barns, poppy fields, chalk paths and rolling hills.

Born in London in 1920 and brought up in Hampstead, north London, Tavener had always enjoyed art. As a boy he sat for hours making chalk drawings on the pavements. On leaving school he took an office job before being called up into the army in 1940. He served in the Royal Artillery for six years and in World War II took part in the D-Day landings at Arromanches, France. It was at the end of the war, while still a soldier, that Tavener had the opportunity to pursue his love of art. For eight months, he studied drawing and painting at the College of the Rhine Army. On his return to London in 1946 he enrolled at Hornsey College of Art and took a National Diploma in Design, specialising in lithography; he also gained an art teacher’s diploma.