David Heathcote
David Heathcote | |
|---|---|
| Born | David Hunter Heathcote 6 July 1931 London, England |
| Died | 2025 (aged 94) |
| Education | |
| Occupations | Artist, academic, collector |
David Hunter Heathcote (6 July 1931 – 2025) was a British artist, collector and academic. During the 1960s and 1970s he assembled a significant collection of Hausa textiles, costume and leather-work, much of which is now in the British Museum.
Life and career
David Hunter Heathcote was born in London on 6 July 1931.[1] He studied at Canterbury College of Art and the Slade School of Art during the late 1950s. Heathcote then worked for twenty years in Zimbabwe and Nigeria, an experience that would contribute significantly to his creative output. He took up a teaching post in Zimbabwe in 1959 and had his first one-person show in Harare in 1967. From 1967 to 1979 he was Head of Art History at Ahmadu Bello University.[2]
He returned to England and settled in Canterbury in 1979, working on his own paintings for several years. He then obtained a part-time post at Christ Church College, later becoming a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Art and Design. He retired from the college in 1996 but continued to practice as an artist.[3]
Heathcote's PhD dissertation on The Embroidery of Hausa Dress is deposited in the archives of the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, along with other related material.[4]
During the 1960s and 1970s, Heathcote was a major collector of Hausa artifacts, including textiles, costume and leather-work. He also undertook ground-breaking research into Hausa costume, including the embroidery of Hausa dress. He mounted a full-scale Hausa exhibition at the Commonwealth Institute in 1976, writing the catalogue and creating a documentary film. The British Museum subsequently acquired many of the objects from the exhibition, which was also covered by the BBC's African Service. The British Museum's online catalogue lists some 391 objects associated with Heathcote.[5][6][7][8]
Heathcote's artworks are in the Slade School of Art, the University of Kent and other public and private collections.[9][10]
On 17 December 2025, it was announced that Heathcote had died at the age of 94.[11]
Exhibitions
Heathcote's work has been included in exhibitions starting with the 1958 Young Contemporaries touring exhibition.[12]
- 2011 Beyond Horizons, GV Art, Chiltern Street, London (solo)[13][14]
- 2013 Beyond Horizons, Beckel Odille Boïcos Gallery, Paris, with GV Art (solo)[15]
- 2014 Numberless Islands, GV Art, Chiltern Street, London (solo) [16]
- 2017 Travels in Arcadia, Norman Plastow Gallery, Wimbledon, with GV Art (solo)[17]
References
- ^ Duffy, James (1981). International directory of scholars and specialists in Third World studies. Crossroads Press. p. 194. Retrieved 17 December 2025.
- ^ "David Heathcote". Retrieved 19 September 2023.
- ^ "David Heathcote". Retrieved 19 September 2023.
- ^ "School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) papers relating to research in Hausa art and embroidery". Retrieved 19 September 2023.
- ^ David Heathcote (1976). The Arts of the Hausa. Catalogue of the World of Islam Festival Exhibition at the Commonwealth Institute, London. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0226688992.
- ^ David Heathcote (1978). "Hausa Art in Northern Nigeria". Retrieved 19 September 2023.
- ^ "Arts and Africa No. 120 (transcript of broadcast in 1976)" (PDF). BBC African Service. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
- ^ "British Museum biography for David Heathcote". Retrieved 20 September 2023..
- ^ "UCL Collections. David Heathcote, Boy and Girl, Seated". Retrieved 20 September 2023.
- ^ "UCL Collections. David Heathcote, Seated Girl". Retrieved 20 September 2023.
- ^ Heathcote, Edwin (17 December 2025). "David Heathcote obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 December 2025.
- ^ "David Heathcote (b. 1931)". Christie's. Retrieved 22 September 2023.
- ^ "Beyond Horizons" (PDF). GV Art. 2011. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
- ^ "Remarkable Selection of Works from David Heathcote's Artistic and Academic Career at GV Art Gallery". Art Daily. 28 February 2011. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
- ^ "David Heathcote - Beyond Horizons, Paris". YouTube. 2013. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
- ^ "Numberless islands" (PDF). GV Art. 2014. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
- ^ "Beyond Arcadia". 2017. Retrieved 19 September 2023.