To celebrate their 90th anniversary in 1953, the Football Association launched the Football and the Fine Arts competition with sponsorship from the recently formed Arts Council of Great Britain. Artists were encouraged to create artworks showing ‘any aspect of Association football, not only the game itself, but all its related activities’.

There was a huge response to the call, with over 1700 entries. With prizes nearing a total of £3000, it’s no surprise that the competition received a lot of interest.

The entries were whittled down by judges including Directors of the Tate and National Galleries, the Arts Director of the Arts Council and the head of the Slade School of Art. A final selection of 150 works were exhibited at the International Faculty of Arts, at Park Lane House in London.

A selection of the pieces created for this competition can be found in our collection. Continue through this online exhibition to find out more.

Crowds and Stadiums, Not Figures

Football and the Fine Arts caught the attention of newspapers nationwide, many publishing features and reviews of the exhibition. After closing in London, the exhibition went on a tour of institutions around the country, appearing at various locations including Birkenhead, Sheffield, Manchester, Aberdeen, and Luton between 1953-1954.

Princess Alice opens exhibition, The Sphere, 31st October 1953 – © Illustrated London News Group

Judges and critics alike favoured artworks which focused on crowd scenes and stadiums, over those depicting players in action. This is typified by one of the prizewinners for the ‘paintings’ category, L.S. Lowry (1887-1976) for his bustling depiction of fans in Going to the Match – the pencil study for which we have on display.

“‘The fact is, football is not very paintable ... But if the game of football seems an almost impossible subject for a picture, the setting in which professional football is played provides a wealth of material for the painter: the hurry of figures converging on the turnstiles, the thousands of faces stretching away on every side’ ”

- David Sylvester, The Listener magazine, 1953

'The Changing Room' by Robert Tavener

Lithograph. ©the artist's estate

Robert Tavener (1920-2004) trained in the military, participating in the D-Day Landings during the Second World War. Post-war, Tavener studied art with the foundation college of the Rhine Army at Göttingen University.

In 1953, the same year as he produced The Changing Room, Tavener took up a teaching post for printmaking at Eastbourne College of Art and Design. Later, he worked as an illustrator producing posters, magazines and book illustrations.

The Changing Room was one of five engraving and lithograph winners at the 1953 exhibition, for which Tavener received £50.

'Snow at Stamford Bridge' by Alistair Grant

Lithograph. ©the artist's estate

Alistair Grant (1925-1997) made a huge impression on the printmaking scene in London, and also taught his craft at the Royal College of Art. This work shows the view from the terraces at Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge stadium. In the foreground are the fence and floodlights for the greyhound racing track, a feature at Stamford Bridge up until 1968. Here, fans show up to watch the match despite freezing temperatures.

Snow at Stamford Bridge received an honourable mention by the judges of the 1953 Football and the Fine Arts exhibition.

'Off to the Match' by Karel Lek

Karel Lek’s woodcut, with its emphasis on the importance of football supporters dressing up for the game, highlights a sense of character and carnival amongst football fans. Off to the Match is reminiscent of the photographs of football supporters, often eccentrically dressed, that featured prominently in popular magazines such as Picture Post from the 1930s onwards. Karel Lek (1929-present) is still a working artist, living in North Wales.

Woodcut print. ©Karel Lek. A selection of the original 1950s woodcut prints are currently available to purchase in our museum shop.

“ ‘I loved watching the spectators, and I didn’t care who won … You felt that Saturday afternoon was a time when these men were let loose, they worked in factories all week and were bossed about. They could vent a lot of their aggression – in a friendly sort of way.’ ”

- Karel Lek, speaking to the National Football Museum, November 2017

'Stamford Bridge 2.45pm' by Edwin La Dell

Watercolour. ©the artist's estate

Born and raised in Sheffield, La Dell was awarded a scholarship to study at the Royal College of Art under the guidance of John Nash in 1935. Following this, La Dell served as an official war artist in the Second World War, working on public murals and camouflage.

In 1948, La Dell returned to the Royal College as head of the Department of Lithography, where he would remain until his death.

Stamford Bridge, 2.45pm shows Chelsea fans arriving and heading in through the turnstiles of their home ground.

'Clapham Common' by Daphne Chart

Oil on canvas. ©the artist's estate

Surrey-born Chart worked with oils to create landscapes, figures and interiors. Exhibiting and living in Chelsea, her inspiration often came from London sights and scenes, like this piece which focuses on the infamous South London Clapham Common, where a match is depicted from an unusual perspective. It is as though the viewer is stood behind the goal watching the game through the holes in the net.

'Football Match at Chelsea' by Mary Krishna

Oil on canvas. ©the artist's estate

British Impressionist and Modern artist, Mary Krishna experimented with combining western art influences with the traditional practices and techniques of India. She became an Associate member of the Royal College of Art.

This image positions the viewer amongst the standing spectators in the crowd emphasizing the movement of the players seen on a murky winter Saturday afternoon. Also in the collection are preparatory sketches for this piece.

Study for 'Footballers' by William Gear

Ink on Paper. ©the artist's estate

William Gear was a successful Scottish artist best known for his abstract works. After the Second World War he spent a lot of his time working in Paris. The block-like forms that represent these football players were clearly influenced by the work of Parisian painter Nicolas de Stael, also renowned for his abstract and block-like representations of football in the early 1950s. Also in the collection is the study in pencil for this piece.

'Moment of Victory' by Michael Rothenstein

The Spectator, 23rd October 1953, Page 12. ©The Spectator Archive

Rothenstein is best known as an English printmaker, though he was also a painter and illustrator. Rothenstein actually illustrated the first UK edition of John Steinbeck’s novella Of Mice and Men.

Rothenstein was the youngest son of celebrated artist Sir William Rothenstein, and his brother John was the head of the Tate Gallery. Using his family connections, he played a significant role in the formation of the Great Bardfield Artists, a group of artists from the village of Bardfield in Essex, whose styles were distinct, but unified by a shared interest in figurative art.

Moment of Victory, an etching and aquatint, was a winner in the engravings and lithographs category, for which Rothenstein received £50. The abstract design of a purple pitch with colourful swirls might be interpreted as rosettes, floodlights or even players.

'Saturday Taxpayers' by Gerald A. Cains

Oil on canvas. ©Gerald Cains

This painting came to Gerald Cains (1932-present) in a dream, so he hastily made a sketch of it when he awoke. He imagined people heading to Portsmouth’s Fratton Park stadium, passing rows of terraced houses, a scene reminiscent of Saturday afternoons across the country.

Cains’ emphasis on the football supporter, typical of many of the works on display at the Football and the Fine Arts exhibition, might be read as an intriguing and evocative response to the particular conditions in which both football and the art world found itself in 1953.

The provocative title refers to an Entertainment Tax levy that football match tickets were subject to at the time. This levy was first introduced during the First World War and despite protests at the time of painting, calls for a repeal had been rejected.

At 22, Cains was the youngest artist in the 1953 exhibition.

'Mid-week Practice at Stamford Bridge' by Lawrence Toynbee

Mid-week Practice at Stamford Bridge, an oil on canvas was one of two works submitted by Lawrence Toynbee to the 1953 competition. This piece was particularly praised by influential art critic David Sylvester in a review of the exhibition in The Listener magazine.

Toynbee was one of four winners in the painting category, awarded a £250 prize.

Daily Herald, 21st October 1953. ©Trinity Mirror; Image ©The British Library Board

“‘The great flat sweeping bowl of Stamford Bridge with its scattered irregular stands looking as if they had been improvised overnight.’ ”

- David Sylvester The Listener magazine, 1953

'Watford Dressing Room' by Hubert Andrew Freeth

Freeth (1912-1986) was a British portrait painter and etcher who trained at the Birmingham School of Art and regularly exhibited at both the Royal Academy of Arts and the Royal Watercolour Society. Freeth served as a British Intelligence Officer and War Artist in the Middle East during the Second World War.

This piece depicts players from Watford Football Club in the changing room. Also in the collection is a preparatory sketch of Tony Collins, who made history as the first black manager in the Football League, leading Rochdale to their only major final appearance in the 1962 League Cup. Collins can be seen in the front right of the final watercolour.

'Footballer in the Snow, Watford' by Hubert Andrew Freeth

Another of Freeth’s artworks was exhibited in the 1953 exhibition. Footballer in the Snow shows sparse crowd and frozen conditions suggesting bleak times. In the early 1950s Watford Football club were languishing at the bottom of the Third Division South, having to seek to be re-elected to the league in 1950-51. Perhaps Freeth’s far from optimistic representation of this game reflects this bleak condition of his local team at this time, out in the cold!

'Saturday Afternoon' by Grace Wheatley

Although there is no evidence of this work by Grace Wheatley (1888-1970) having appeared at the Football and Fine Arts exhibition, it was clearly inspired by the FA competition, as were many artists in early 1950s Britain.

“‘By-products of the Football Association’s competition for artists have been turning up so often in recent months that one might have been excused for believing that all the painters and sculptors of Great Britain had entered into brilliant rivalry for this glittering prize’. ”

- The Times, 1953

'The Game of the Year' by Ithell Colquhoun

Ithell Colquhoun had built a good reputation as a female surrealist painter in the 1940s, in a world dominated by male artists. Her symmetrical composition emphasises the two sides of a football match, with inverted colours, like those of opposing teams. The background structure appears to suggest both a player, perhaps heading a ball, and a trophy, reinforcing an interpretation that this work was inspired by the 1953 FA Cup final. Although this work was not included in the Football and Fine Arts exhibition there can be little doubt that it was submitted to, or inspired by the competition.

'Goal' by Clifford Fishwick

Clifford Fishwick (1923-1997) was a post-war painter and printmaker. Born in Accrington in 1923, he went on to train at the Liverpool School of Art, where he undertook two study periods sandwiched either side of World War II naval service. Fishwick went on to teach at the Exeter College of Art, becoming the principal from 1958 until 1984.

This is another example of an artwork which did not feature in the exhibition but was most likely submitted to the judges. Two of Fishwick’s other artworks did feature in the final exhibition; Changing Rooms and Wasteground.

With thanks to:

National Lottery Heritage Fund

Art Fund

Arts Council England/V&A Purchase Grant Fund

Academic Partner Professor Mike O’Mahony, University of Bristol

Ray Physick (‘The Representation of Association Football in Fine Art in England From its Origins to the Present Day’, 2013)

With thanks to:

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Crowds and Stadiums, Not Figures

'The Changing Room' by Robert Tavener

'Snow at Stamford Bridge' by Alistair Grant

'Off to the Match' by Karel Lek

'Stamford Bridge 2.45pm' by Edwin La Dell

'Clapham Common' by Daphne Chart

'Football Match at Chelsea' by Mary Krishna

Study for 'Footballers' by William Gear

'Moment of Victory' by Michael Rothenstein

'Saturday Taxpayers' by Gerald A. Cains

'Mid-week Practice at Stamford Bridge' by Lawrence Toynbee

'Watford Dressing Room' by Hubert Andrew Freeth

'Footballer in the Snow, Watford' by Hubert Andrew Freeth

'Saturday Afternoon' by Grace Wheatley

'The Game of the Year' by Ithell Colquhoun

'Goal' by Clifford Fishwick

With thanks to: