Enos Lovatt (1937 - 2018)

Early Life and Family

Enos Lovatt was a British abstract artist born in 1937 on the outskirts of the Potteries. He spent most of his formative years first in Gillow Heath and latterly, until his marriage in 1971, at Mow Cop. His parents had a small holding on Mow Lane where they brought up their five children. Enos Snr had been a miner and, after an accident, worked in a factory and at his small holding. His wife Gladys had studied art before her marriage and, along with her husband, was very encouraging and nurturing of the children's creativity. Much of the subject matter of Enos' early work was informed by his surroundings and in particular his family. He created hundreds of images of himself, his father, his mother, and his siblings.

Education and Training

Before attending the Royal College of Art, Enos attended Portland House in Burslem and then studied for his NDD at Stoke on Trent College of Art (Burslem College of Art) from 1950-54. He then did his National Service as a trainee medic, based in Scotland, mainly Glasgow, where he sometimes attended classes at the Glasgow School of Art. In 1959, Enos went to the Royal College of Art in London. His lecturers included Mary Fedden, Carel Weight, Ruskin Spear, Ceri Richards, Roger de Grey, Colin Hayes, and Sandra Blow. He also studied alongside artists including David Hockney, Peter Blake, Derek Boshier, Pauline Boty, Frank Bowling, Patrick Caufield, and R.B. Kitaj. However, Enos found his years studying in London a struggle, as he did not feel he fitted into the ethos of the institution.

Teaching Career and Studio Practice

On leaving the Royal College (1959-1962), Enos took on the role of part-time lecturer at The Burslem School of Art until 1968, and latterly was a full-time lecturer in painting and fine art at North Staffordshire Polytechnic from 1970 until his retirement in 1992. Apart from his years of National Service and at the Royal College, Enos continued to live with his parents into his early thirties, using a large shed that had been erected for him as his studio. From 1972, he lived in Wolstanton with his wife and daughter, using the entire ground floor of their house as a studio, although for many years he did return to work at Mow Cop when he could.

Exhibitions and Legacy

Enos exhibited sporadically through the years, with one-man shows at various places including the Burslem College of Art, Keele University, Woodstock Gallery, the Paton Gallery in London, Stafford Museum and Art Gallery, and the Stoke-on-Trent Museum and Art Gallery. Throughout his career, whilst he always wanted to share his work, he was often reluctant to part with it. In the Sentinel (March 5th, 1957), Enos said: "When I have finished at the Royal College, I want to come back and paint in and around the countryside where I live." His heart was and still remains tied inextricably to Mow Cop and the Potteries, where he spent most of his life. Enos was part of "The Boys" alongside Arthur Berry and Jack Simcock, who came to define the soul of North Staffordshire art. Explore works like ENL007 Abstract Head Painting c1960s and ENL006 Abstract Crouching Figure Painting c1960s. In December 2018, Enos Lovatt passed away. For more information about Enos Lovatt, visit Janine Partington's Instagram feed, where images of her father's work are regularly posted and described: https://www.instagram.com/enoslovatt/ Barewall thanks Janine Partington, Enos Lovatt's daughter, for writing this profile in 2016 on behalf of Enos.