THE BIG INTERVIEW: Anthony Eyton

As he approaches his hundredth year, the Royal Academician tells STEVE PILL about what it means to be an artist and why there is a newfound urgency to his work

- STEVE PILL

At 98, Anthony Eyton would be forgiven for taking it easy. The senior Royal Academician began his fine art studies 80 years ago, yet, he says, there is still much to learn and create. He has others to help him today – his housekeeper and her son, plus his daughter Sarah, a talented photographer in her own right – so that he can focus on the things that have kept him occupied all this time: thinking about, talking about, and making art.

We’ve barely made it inside the hallway of his large three-storey semi, set back from a busy road in South London, before Anthony is eagerly asking if he can show us his studio. It is only as he climbs the elegant winding staircase, adorned with faded posters from previous solo shows, that he briefly shows his age, taking his time to reach the first-floor studio before that gentle exuberance resumes. Rosy of cheek and wiry of hair, if Tigger has a grandfather, it is quite possibly Anthony Eyton.

The artist moved here in 1960 and his painting room has a wonderfully lived-in quality: a waft of turpentine hits your nostrils as you enter; chairs and bare floorboards are encrusted with oil paint; every conceivable surface is piled high with brush pots and well-thumbed monographs. Even the most visionary architect couldn’t envision this space being anything other than a painter’s studio, yet it is still a surprise to learn that an early spring clean has recently taken place. “The tidy up has made a revolution, which also becomes synonymous or equal to revelation,” he says, sagely. To illustrate this, he reaches for a stack of photos arranged in a rack – beach scenes, Indian temples, a nude figure – all possible subjects, newly rediscovered amid the clutter.