John Kashdan was born in 1917 in Islington, London, England, the son of a Russian immigrant who fled anti-Jewish pogroms. A gifted artist, he won multiple awards at the Royal Academy Schools and held his first solo exhibition at the Redfern Gallery in 1945. His monotypes explored psychological depth, satire, and existential themes. Later, he focused on teaching, including becoming Head of Design at Guildford School of Art and Epsom School of Art, while his own work gained public recognition again from the late 1980s. John Kashdan died in London, England on 22 February 2001.
Artist and teacher, John Kashdan was born on 12 February 1917 in Islington, London, England. His father, a Russian immigrant who had escaped anti-Jewish pogroms and conscription, ran a barber’s shop that became a gathering place for political debates, especially on socialist issues. Due to financial difficulties, Kashdan left school at fourteen, working in various jobs while attending evening classes at the Bethnal Green Working Men’s Institute. He exhibited at the annual exhibitions held at the Bethnal Green Museum, A lecturer from the Royal Academy Schools (RAS) noticed his talent and urged him to apply and in 1936 he was accepted as a student. At the RAS, he quickly distinguished himself, winning several prestigious awards, including the Royal Academy Gold Medal and the Edward Stott Travelling Scholarship. These and other scholarships enabled him to study and work in France from 1936–39, especially in Avignon and Aix-en-Provence. Preferring creative freedom, he declined an offer to study further at the Royal College of Art in London.
In 1945, he held his first solo exhibition at the respected Redfern Gallery in London. Kashdan's artistic development was significantly shaped by the time he had spent in Cambridge, where he moved in 1943. There, he connected with influential artists and writers, expanding his artistic influences and taking particular inspiration from Picasso, Braque, and Juan Gris. His still-life paintings explored design and colour construction, while his Artist and Model series embraced expressive colour and dynamic line. His association with Henry Moore also played a crucial role in his artistic journey. Kashdan frequently visited Moore’s studio, where he admired the sculptor’s use of abstract forms and was particularly influenced by Moore’s Shelter Sketchbooks, published during the war.
Kashdan’s printmaking practice evolved through his friendship with Richard Ziegler, who had developed a unique transfer drawing technique. Inspired by Ziegler’s methods and the monotypes of Degas, Kashdan refined his own monotype process, blending classic techniques with a form of offset drawing, reminiscent of Paul Klee’s innovations. His experimentation extended to etching on acetate and early screenprinting techniques. Jankel Adler, the Polish-born emigre painter, also became a significant influence, and he introduced Kashdan to the artists, Robert Colquhoun and Robert MacBryde. The two Scottish Roberts were, in turn, deeply impacted by Kashdan’s monotype techniques, incorporating them into their own work.
Kashdan’s monotypes frequently explored figurative and psychological themes. His series Nocturnal Heads and Insect Women depicted unsettling, nightmarish figures, drawing inspiration from Kafka’s Metamorphosis and the grotesque imagery of Mexican printmaker, José Guadalupe Posada. These works reflected Kashdan’s engagement with satire, depicting distorted human figures, often imbued with a sense of postwar disillusionment. The devastation of war profoundly affected Kashdan’s artistic outlook, and by the late 1940s, his paintings had taken on a sombre, introspective tone. Works like Family with Dead Bird and Grieving Children encapsulated his deep engagement with themes of loss and mourning.
Although Kashdan was gaining recognition, he chose to step away from public exhibitions in 1950. He found the commercial art world increasingly restrictive and instead devoted himself to teaching. In 1946, he took a post at the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth, where he established the art department, despite being a Conscientious Objector. His pedagogical approach was unconventional, incorporating dramatic improvisation and cross-disciplinary studies. In 1951, he moved to Guildford School of Art, where he became Head of Design and Fine Art. Under his leadership, the school embraced an interdisciplinary curriculum, introducing studies in psychology, perception, and visual research. However, in 1968, amid student protests and institutional upheaval at Guildford, he was among the faculty members dismissed. After reinstatement, he was reassigned to Epsom School of Art in 1972, where he remained until his retirement in 1982.
Over the next four decades, Kashdan’s work was seldom displayed in public exhibitions. In 1971, his work Heads was exhibited at the University of Surrey, exploring the tension between masks and the mind. Critics compared his introspective style to the work of Chaim Soutine (Surrey Advertiser). Kashdan spent his later years in Loughborough, Leicestershire, where he continued his artistic practice It was not until 1989 that the gallerist, Jane England, organised a retrospective of his work at England & Co in London, focusing on his paintings and monotypes from 1940 to 1955. The British Museum subsequently acquired a significant number of his prints, acknowledging their importance in the history of British printmaking. Some of these works were later included in the 1990 British Museum exhibition Avant-Garde British Printmaking 1914-1960. In 1991, a second solo exhibition at England & Co showcased monotypes spanning five decades, cementing his reputation as a key figure in British printmaking.
John Kashdan died in London, England on 22 February 2001. In the UK public domain, his work is represented in the collections of Museum and Art Swindon and the British Museum.
Irene Iacono
Consult items in the Ben Uri archive related to [John Kashdan]
Publications related to [John Kashdan] in the Ben Uri Library