“I hope that by example and humour, children will start to make pictures for themselves. Show them, don’t tell them!”
Tony Hart
Introduction
Nostalgia is such a beautiful thing, and when we need a boost in the hardships of life, we often press the nostalgia button to brighten our day. Harming back to childhood when life was far more straightforward and a time from so many fond memories come. For me, it had many great television programmes on at the time. The 1970s and 1980s provide an archive of treasures that entertained you after school on a rainy afternoon and made your homework time slightly more bearable. One man who reigned children’s programming was Tony Hart. The grey-haired artist who made art accessible and fun and made you want to pick up a pencil or paintbrush, whatever your proficiency at art. A loveable artist who was a welcome guest on your television screens, showing the art we sent in with memorable music and bringing the plasticine Morph to life after he was coaxed out of his wooden pencil box home. A character with his own garbled language could bring life into a nail brush or anything strewn across the table.
The Art of Hart
Tony Hart was a joy to watch—an art magician who could create beautiful art with the most basic materials. Determined to make art fun, he could create a picture on the tarmac of an airfield or masterpieces on whatever canvas. Born in 1925 in Maidstone, Kent, Norman Anthony Hart was the son of an amateur cartoonist and local government officer. As a child, he attended choir school at All Saints, Margaret Street, in central London, and Clayesmore School, Dorset—his best subject was art. A member of the cadet force, he went on at the age of 17 to travel to India to train for a commission in the 1st Gurkha Rifles, where he served from 1943 to 1947. This was despite his belief that wars were avoidable and undesirable.
Returning from India with much of its artistic culture rubbing off on him, Tony studied at Maidstone Art College and graduated in 1950. He then worked as a window dresser at an Oxford Street department store in London, where he created bats in the belfry display with bats circling bras. He wouldn’t have to wait long before the BBC knocked on his door. In an interview, he impressed the panel by drawing a fish supplied on the napkin with his coffee. He would go on to work on television from 1952, displaying his skills with crayons on Saturday Special and then the graphics for the daily magazine programme Tonight. In 1963, he designed the iconic Blue Peter badge and established himself as a household name in Vision On. It was initially commissioned for deaf children but broadened its audience once it aired. A winner of numerous awards, including those from the Children’s Television Festival in 1972 and the Society for Film and TV Arts in 1974, Tony once created an illusion of a moving tractor out of 144 roller towels on a Sussex hill.
Spotted for being unique and highly talented, Hart would go on to present Take Hart, Hartbeat, Morph TV With Tony Hart and Smart Hart. For Video Arts, he made films aimed at adults with such titles as How to Lie With Statistics and It’s All Right, It’s Only A Customer. However, he will be best remembered for his work with the imaginary Morph. The bulbous-nosed, plasticine man with big round eyes and a hyperactive personality who was simple and charming. A firm favourite of children and adults. Morph often got into an artistic scrape but was always determined to do better with the objects he had around him. It was a delight that children would rush home from school to watch. Hart’s 1978 show caused a frenzy of artwork to be sent to the BBC, with 8,000 items per week posted to Wood Lane. Tony would create original ideas in his Sussex shed. Mundane objects such as nuts and bolts, kitchen utensils and things in the garden could be turned into exciting art objects. He was also a prolific author, publishing The Art Factory (1980), Paint And Draw and Art And Craft (both 1984), Lettercraft (1986), Small Hands Big Ideas (1988), Draw It Yourself (1989), and The Tale of Billy Bouncer (1990).
Tony retired from television in 2001 due to ill health. He suffered two strokes that stopped him from using his famous hands, and unable to draw. He died in 2009 at 83 but will be remembered for being a one-off, original and quirky. An artist who used the resources around him and created beautiful art. A master of his domain who quickly picked up a pencil, crayon or brush and produced original artwork. An innovator who encouraged children to give it a go and to amaze themselves with their abilities. He was a trailblazer of his time and someone who just made art look fun.
