College – Issue 38

THE QUADRANGLE A master in his place

The latest acquisition in the CCOBA Art Collection, gifted to College during

College, so when James Blackie [curator of the CCOBA Art Collection] asked me to make the next artwork for the collection, I thought it a fortunate moment of serendipity to make a work about Richard Bromley at that time. “I was a typical rebellious teenager and probably too busy being annoyed by Richard to understand that I both respected him and found him humorous. “The work can be considered one made with the benefit of hindsight that reflects a sense of fondness and respect for a place I now realise was a fine institution of the highest

Richard Bromley in Grey Tweed in the 90s telling the Artist to get a Haircut (and have a shave) – with its thick layers of paint, gestural brushwork, gouged channels and abstract shapes – captures the uneasy dynamic between the strict disciplinarian and headstrong teenager. Toby kicked over the traces while at College and left at the end of his 5th form (Year 11) year to finish his education elsewhere, but now admits the school wasn’t as bad as he thought at the time. “I’ve always regretted I did not complete my high school years at

Reunion Weekend in February 2020, is an

intensely personal and evocative image created by contemporary artist and Old Boy Toby Raine. “Attending College in the 90s, I was under the constant influence of larger than life schoolmaster characters. The most memorable for me was Deputy Headmaster Richard Bromley, who I crossed blades with often.”

Christ’s College Canterbury

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