Tom Phillips: The Revolutionary Artist Who Transformed Victorian Literature into Modern Art

A Remarkable Legacy in British Art

Britain has lost one of its most brilliant and idiosyncratic artists with the passing of Tom Phillips. His exceptional career earned him prestigious recognition, including a CBE in 2002 and status as a Royal Academician, along with a position as Slade Professor of Art at Oxford (2005-06).

The Masterpiece that Defined an Era

In 1966, Phillips embarked on what would become his defining project when he purchased a secondhand Victorian novel for threepence in Peckham. This became ‘A Humument,’ his longest-running serial project, where he transformed the original text through collage, cut-up ornament, and various techniques to create entirely new works of art and poetic text.

A Multi-Talented Artist

Phillips’s versatility was remarkable – he worked as a portrait painter, musician, poet, curator, art historian, translator, filmmaker, and composer. He served as chairman of the exhibitions committee at the Royal Academy in London.

What made Phillips extraordinary was his ability to connect the personal with the universal. His omnivorous intellect encompassed everything, infusing his work with vast literary and musical knowledge, while maintaining an endless appetite for both tradition and innovation.

Cultural Impact and Recognition

After his election to the Royal Academy in 1984, Phillips received a major exhibition there in 1993. He chaired the Academy’s Exhibition Committee from 1995 to 2007 and curated the acclaimed ‘Africa: The Art of a Continent’ exhibition in 1995, which travelled to Berlin and New York. In 1989, he achieved the distinction of becoming the second artist to have a retrospective of his portraits at the National Portrait Gallery, London.

Lasting Influence

Phillips’s influence on culture has been profound and far-reaching. As noted by his admirers, while not everyone could claim to be his direct pupil, his work itself served as a masterclass, with his legacy living on through the lesson plans embedded in his creations.