John Aubrey Clarendon Latham
© National Portrait Gallery, London
John Aubrey Clarendon Latham
by Ida Kar
2 1/4 inch square film negative, 1963
Purchased, 1999
Photographs Collection
NPG x131194
Artistback to top
- Ida Kar (1908-1974), Photographer. Artist or producer associated with 1567 portraits, Sitter in 137 portraits.
This portraitback to top
Kar photographed Latham shortly before his exhibition, Latham's Noit, at the Kasmin Gallery, London.
Linked publicationsback to top
- Freestone, Clare (appreciation) Wright, Karen (appreciation), Ida Kar Bohemian Photographer, 2011 (accompanying the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery from 10 March to 19 June 2011), p. 135 Read entry
John Latham studied at Chelsea School of Art (1946-50) and had his first solo exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in 1960. He became a pioneer of conceptual art in Britain, working in a variety of media including spray paint and, later, assemblage incorporating plaster and books. During his time teaching at St Martin's School of Art (1966-7) he and a group of students chewed pages of Clement Greenberg's book Art and Culture. A phial of the resulting material was titled Spit and Chew: Art and Culture. In 1966, with his wife Barbara Steveni, Latham formed the Artist Placement Group, an initiative that aimed to place artists in government, commerce and industry. Latham was photographed by Kar shortly before his exhibition, Latham's Noit, at the Kasmin Gallery, London.
Subjects & Themesback to top
Events of 1963back to top
Current affairs
The Secretary of State for War, John Profumo is found to have lied to the House of Commons when he denied having an affair with the showgirl, Christine Keeler. The Profumo Affair was a public scandal for the Conservative party, and ultimately contributed to the resignation of Harold Macmillan.Art and science
Doctor Who is first broadcast on the BBC with William Hartnell playing the Doctor. This long running science fiction series about an alien Time Lord who travels through time and space in his police-box-shaped Tardis has been watched by generations of viewers (often from behind the back of the sofa), and features imaginative, but traditionally low-budget, special effects, innovative electronic music, and the Doctor's greatest enemy, the Daleks.International
John F. Kennedy is assassinated in Texas. The arrest of Lee Harvey Oswald for his murder did not prevent a score of conspiracy theories involving Cuba, the CIA, the KGB, and the Mafia among others.Martin Luther King delivers his 'I have a dream' speech, marking an important moment in the civil rights movement in America and helping to secure him the Nobel Peace Prize' in 1964.
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