Alan Halliday Sold at Auction Prices

b. 1952 -

I have a good memory. I remember drawing before I could walk or talk: not childish scribble but reasonably acceptable drawing. Unfortunately, the family reaction to this was not so much child prodigy as child freak. Then, when I went to grammar school in Lancashire and at the age of thirteen began to sell my oils on canvas with a certain degree of seriousness, the family stepped in and tried to stop it. But many artists have encountered family opposition: it seems to be all part of the call. Luckily, there were two teachers at school who perceived my predicament: Norris Harrison who taught me art and art history; and Philip Holland who coached me to audition for the National Youth Theatre in London which I joined in 1968 at the age of sixteen. Acting small parts in London during the swinging sixties made me grow up fast. And on foreign tours, there was the added bonus of access to major picture galleries in Hamburg and West Berlin or wherever in Europe the NYT happened to be performing.

Meanwhile, in my bid to escape south my art teacher suggested I should apply for a place at the Courtauld Institute of Art for which I was interviewed and accepted when I was eighteen, (far too young in my opinion). I did not apply to art school because my parents were convinced they would have to support me if I became an artist, and they were not prepared to do that. It was a widespread prejudice at the time.