Ede, H. S.

Ede, H. S. (1895–1990). British collector, curator, lecturer, and writer, born in Penarth, Glamorgan, the son of a solicitor; the ‘H. S.’ stands for Harold Stanley, but from about 1920 he adopted the name ‘Jim'. After leaving school he began training as a painter at Newlyn and then Edinburgh College of Art, but the First World War interrupted his studies. He joined the South Wales Borderers in 1914 and served in France and India. From 1919 to 1921 he studied at the Slade School, then became the photographer's assistant at the National Gallery. In 1922 he moved to the Tate Gallery, where he worked until 1936. During this period of 14 years, ‘Ede established close contacts with avant-garde artists in Paris but served under a director, J. B. Manson, who was unable to recognize his talents. Had his friendships with Picasso, Braque, Chagall, Brancusi, Miró, and others been exploited, the Tate could have had an unrivalled collection of early twentieth-century art’ (DNB). The British artists with whom he was friendly included Ben and Winifred Nicholson (whom he met in 1923 and who played an important part in stimulating his interest in contemporary art), Barbara Hepworth, David Jones, Henry Moore, and Christopher Wood. In 1926 he discovered the work of Gaudier-Brzeska when his estate was offered to—and declined by—the Tate. Ede acquired much of it and from that point championed the artist's work, by making gifts to museums in Britain and France and by writing A Life of Gaudier-Brezska (1930), which was reprinted in 1931 with the title Savage Messiah. He was regarded as a leading contender to be next director of the Tate, but he resigned in 1936, being unable to work any longer with Manson (who ironically resigned himself in 1938).

After leaving the Tate, Ede moved to Tangier and supported himself partly with lecture tours in America. In 1952 he moved to France, then in 1956 returned to England. The following year he bought four derelict 17th-century cottages in Cambridge and converted them into a single house that he called Kettle's Yard. ‘Here he arranged his by then considerable collection of works of art … in a manner which would make modern art not merely approachable but alive, combining his twentieth-century enthusiasms with his love of artefacts and materials from the past. Works of art by Ben Nicholson and Brancusi would sit alongside antique country furniture, ancient stones, flints, and amphora … in a building which harmonized the modernist spirit of the 1930s with the experience of living in north Africa. A respect for light and space were the hub of Ede's vision’ (DNB). The house was open to the public every afternoon, and in 1966 Ede presented it and its contents to the University of Cambridge. An extension and exhibition gallery, designed by Sir Leslie Martin (see CIRCLE), were added in 1970, but Kettle's Yard still retains the character of a private home. Apart from Gaudier-Brzeska (the collection of whose work is surpassed only by that of the Pompidou Centre in Paris), the artists who are best represented include David Jones, Ben Nicholson, Alfred Wallis, and Christopher Wood. Ede moved to Edinburgh in 1973 and lived there for the rest of his life, but he kept close links with Kettle's Yard and published a book on it in 1984: A Way of Life: Kettle's Yard.