Colet House has always been a great centre for the arts.   Of the many famous individuals who used the studios, one of the most distinguished was Sir Edward Burne-Jones (1833-98).   He was painting there until within a couple of hours of his death.

Sir Edward was a leading Pre-Raphaelite and friend and associate of Sir Coutts Lindsay, the first occupant of Colet.    Sir Edward hired the top studio to complete his great work “Last Days of Arthur at Avalon”  - a huge canvas, 2.8 metres by 6.4 metres.   It was purchased by a Puerto Rican millionaire in the 1960’s and has its current home in the capital, Ponce.    But for the first time it is to go on loan exhibition in London, at Tate Britain.   This opens on April 15 2008.    The previous day, April 14, at 11 a.m. BBC Radio Four will have a programme about the painting, including the time it was at Colet.   The Study Society contributed to the recorded discussion.

A book is being written about Burne-Jones and the painting and the author, Fiona McCarthy, visited Colet recently.   An article by her can be found here.

An account of the history of Colet House is in preparation to supplement the major article by Helen Wright in an early edition of The Bridge.