Item RSP/7/k/20 - Photograph: School of Art

Photograph showing a student, identified as Douglas Sutton, sketching from books and prints, with men and women students working at easels behind him. Some of the students' work can be seen.

Labelled on reverse 'Central Office of Information Photograph. Crown Copyright reserved (See Feature Set Into No.210 The Working Man's University: The First Polytechnic. The demand for evening education in Britain far exceeds facilities. After a full day's work a large proportion of the adult population hurry to evening institutes and polytechnics to learn, at a very low cost, the 'know-how' that modern industry and commerce insists of its workers. More than 11,000 people in the evenings, and 2,500 during the day attend courses for further education at the regent Street Polytechnic, where the twelve departments and three craft courses are designed almost exclusively for the vocational student who has reached the age of seventeen (there is no maximum age) and has passed Matriculation or an equivalent University entrance examination.'

Separately labelled 'D.47584 (11) The School of Art at the Polytechnic offers full courses of training for painters, sculptors, designers, illustrators, commercial artists or art teachers. Douglas Sutton works as a commercial artist in a London studio. His ambition is to become a book illustrator and for this he finds the Polytechnic course invaluable.'