Eduardo Paolozzi and the University of St Andrews

In this blog, Assistant Curator Struan Watson shares some insights into the journey of the Eduardo Paolozzi Archive, from ‘The Krazy Kat’ to our most recent acquisition in 2024.

Eduardo Paolozzi (1924-2005) was a Scottish artist. He was born in Leith, Edinburgh, to Italian immigrants and studied at the Edinburgh College of Art in 1943, and Saint Martin’s School of Art and the Slade School of Fine Art from 1944 to 1947. 
 
The late 1940s into the 1950s was a transformational period. After the Second World War, the economy was crippled, and rationing remained in place until 1954. At the same time, there were rapid advancements in technology and scientific innovation. Art and creativity were forms of escapism from the difficult realities of life, embracing the scientific – and sometimes fictional – visions of the future. The high academic and aesthetic standards of painting and sculpture made way for the everyday pulp of newspapers, magazines, readymades; items that were cheap to buy and had low material value. Paolozzi would demonstrate that its cultural and artistic value was much greater.  
 
Advertising, popular culture and mass-produced material became sources of artistic inspiration as Paolozzi drew upon his early fascination of comic books, toys and magazines. 

Paolozzi and Pop Art 

His collages from the 1940s and 1950s show both his fascination and a dejection towards post-war consumerism: Hollywood posters, designer products, technological inventions and science fiction are all cut and pasted into collages as people, products, and graphics grab our attention. These collages of popular culture would be coined ‘Pop art’ in the mid-1950s and became the new avant-garde movement in Europe, the US, Japan and later in Russia. 

I was a Rich Man’s Plaything was one of Paolozzi’s earliest collages which explored these themes. It is the first time the word ‘Pop!’ had been used in this context, coming out the cloud of a smoking gun. Above is an image of a print from 1972. It is a facsimile from a series of collages made by Paolozzi between 1947 and 1952, titled Bunk!. This influential series is one of the earliest and most important examples of the Pop art movement.  

St Andrews and The Krazy Kat Archive 

By 1970, Eduardo Paolozzi had been appointed CBE, had worked in Paris, London and California, and had spent much time teaching and working in Germany: in Hamburg, Berlin, Cologne and Munich. He was an internationally recognised artist, and the volume of work in print, collage and sculpture that he had produced was vast. 

In early 1971, the University of St Andrews was initially presented with the idea of holding a large collection of Paolozzi’s work. The artist was very close to Professor Robin Spencer, lecturer in Fine Arts at the University of St Andrews from 1969 to 1986 and a Paolozzi scholar himself. Their relationship was key in Paolozzi’s interest in gifting his archive to the University, and it came with further plans in the dissemination of his work and future research. 

The Department of Fine Arts – as it was then called – was very eager to acquire this collection as it would benefit the artist, the department, staff and students in the following ways: 

1. It is a prominent example of contemporary art which would stimulate the development of the Department of Fine Arts 

2. It would greatly enhance the ‘open-air sites’ of the University campus 

3. It was the ideal incentive in generating funds to realise the building of a new Arts Centre which would house and exhibit Paolozzi’s work 

4. The acquisition would encourage the appointment of a research fellow who would study and look after the archive 

There were, as expected, a few ‘formal hoops’ to jump through before the Paolozzi archive made its way to St Andrews. One of these hoops was that of the name of the archive. 

In November 1971, the then Vice Principal of the University, Lionel Butler, expressed his concern over the name given to the collection, which the artist titled (in true Paolozzi fashion) The Krazy Kat Archive. Butler wrote: 

“The project would be much more likely, in my opinion, to go smoothly through [University] Court if we could drop this title. If you prefer to leave things as they are, no doubt there will be an interesting exchange of remarks at the court, but I am not so gloomy as to suppose that the whole thing will be jeopardised.” 

This was addressed to Professor John Steer of the Department of Fine Arts who, two weeks later, replied: 

“He [Paolozzi] has now approved the title of the Krazy Kat Archive to be ‘Eduardo Paolozzi Donation Archive Material for 20^th Century Art’.” 

[It really just rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it?] 

Steer was the first Professor of Art History at the University of St Andrews in 1967. He and Robin Spencer were important figures in bringing a Paolozzi archive to St Andrews. Image courtesy of the University of St Andrews Libraries and Museums 

In early 1972, a revised draft was written up detailing the objectives of the newly named collection. This included securing funding for a research fellowship and curator, making the collection available to the public, and to encourage the growth of the collection by acquiring more material from Paolozzi and other artists. 

By January 1973, this archive was stored and displayed in St Andrews. David Walker was appointed the research fellow and curator of the archive, and a renewal application into the archive’s funding for a second year was on the way. 

However, in February 1973, it was revealed in a Management Committee meeting that all the prints from OZ – a series of prints in the archive – were stolen. This left Paolozzi and his representatives doubtful over the management of the archive which he demanded “required a more solid professional structure”.  

This was the first of many sources of discontent for Paolozzi. Over a year since the foundation of the archive, a catalogued object list of the archive was still not yet completed, named ‘The Handlist’. Without being completed, this had significant implications upon the valuation of the archive, which affected the all-purpose insurance against damages and losses. This point was given even greater stress and urgency after the loss of his OZ series. Additionally, no dedicated space within the university had yet been approved for cinematic facilities to present the archive to visitors, students and researchers in large groups. This was a consistent and considerable source of dissatisfaction for Paolozzi.  

There were positive developments. Two large-scale exhibitions of his work were held at the university in the 1970s acting as a catalyst in exhibiting and acquiring more artworks into the collection. 

Nevertheless, in 1985, the archive was removed from the university’s stewardship. Paolozzi gifted it (with added purchases) to the V&A in that same year where it is still held today. It returned to its original title: The Krazy Kat Archive.  
 
While the combined vision of Eduardo Paolozzi, Robin Spencer and John Steer never made permanency in St Andrews, Paolozzi’s relationship with the university remained strong. 

He was awarded the Honorary degree of Doctor of Letters (DLitt) from the university on 8 July 1995. At this degree ceremony, Professor John Guy, then Provost of St Leonards College, delivers the laureation address to Paolozzi in which he states: 

 His links with St Andrews are strong. Between 1973 and 1985 the university was custodian of his Krazy Kat Archive – spelt with Ks. The notable collection of the kind of comics, science fiction, toys and popular images which nourish his imagination.” 

The laureation address omits the agreed name of the archive as per University Court ruling and decided to used Paolozzi’s original title. 

The Spencer Bequest and a return to St Andrews 

Eduardo Paolozzi died in 2005 and Robin Spencer died in 2017. Spencer bequeathed a large collection of Paolozzi’s work to the National Galleries of Scotland. It is within this Spencer Bequest where many of the artworks are not only addressed “For Robin” but also “For the University of St Andrews”, written by Paolozzi himself. It is from this bequest that the University of St Andrews acquired 250 artworks, kindly gifted by the National Galleries of Scotland, in 2024. 

Paolozzi’s influential Bunk!, Moonstrips Empire News, and General Dynamic F.U.N  series, as well as plaster sculptures, are in the University Collections and can be viewed from our online collections catalogue.  

40 years after the dissolution of the Eduardo Paolozzi Donation Archive Material for 20^th Century Art, the University of St Andrews is delighted to once again receive a substantial body of work by one of Scotland’s most influential artists. 

Struan Watson
Assistant Curator (Art)