Tom Phillips: How One Artist Transformed British Art Through Multiple Disciplines

A Revolutionary Artist’s Legacy

Britain lost one of its most brilliant and idiosyncratic artists in Tom Phillips, who achieved the highest recognition from the British art establishment, including a CBE (2002) and status as a Royal Academician (1989).

Phillips was an extraordinary polymath who worked across multiple disciplines, serving as a portrait painter, musician, poet, curator, art historian, translator, filmmaker, and composer. He also held a significant 12-year position as chairman of the exhibitions committee at the Royal Academy in London.

The Masterpiece that Defined an Era

Phillips’s defining work, A Humument, began in 1966 when he purchased a forgotten Victorian novel in a Peckham junk shop for three pence. This project would occupy him for the next 50 years.

His talent spanned various art forms, including painting, sculpture, and photography, and he was equally accomplished in both visual arts and writing, often combining the two in his text-based artworks.

Influence and Teaching Legacy

As a teacher at Ipswich School of Art, Phillips taught Brian Eno, who would become a lifelong friend. His influence extended to experimental music, where John Cage’s concepts of chance operations significantly impacted both his musical compositions and artwork.

Cultural Impact and Recognition

Phillips was an artist of extraordinarily broad range, working across all genres. He painted both figuratively and abstractly, created photographic series, produced sculptures and site-specific works, and illustrated fine editions of classical works by Cicero, Dante, and Lawrence Sterne.

His final artistic statement in the last edition of A Humument captured his essence perfectly with the found poem: “Now the arts connect / in my poor little book / very rich for eyes.” Indeed, Phillips was an artist who dedicated his life to making connections and transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary.