Dick Lee (1923-2001)

Dick in his studio 1992. Photographed by S Hunt

Artist and teacher

For more details of Dickâ€™s life and career see the excellent obituary by Christopher Pemberton published in The Guardian in Nov 2001.

The Biscuits

I first met Dick in the mid-1980s. Although recently retired from teaching at Camberwell he set up a life drawing class at the Wells Arts Centre. As I had been a dealer for a few years then, I decided I should learn more about the process of creating. I arrived at my first class with my small drawing book and set of sharpened pencils in hand ready to do neat little drawings. The first thing Dick did was to replace them with huge sheets of paper and a large dirty piece of charcoal. I loved it, and he was a wonderful teacher, â€œdraw what you see, not what you know is thereâ€ has always stayed with me.

When the classes came to an end, we decided we wanted to continue, so an informal group was formed. We met once a month at each otherâ€™s houses, drew all morning and then had lunch together. Both my parents were members as were a number of other talented amateur and professional artists, as well as Dick. There was no teacher, but feedback was given and accepted.

There was always a break during the morning for coffee and biscuits and in time the group became known as The Biscuits. It continued long after I had left Norfolk and with some changes of membership ran until 2018, over forty years.

Dick and fellow members of The Biscuits, early 1990s

The Proprietor, a portrait of Richard Scott. Collection of Richard Scott