Roy Turner Durrant

Born in Lavenham, Suffolk, Roy Turner Durrant studied at Camberwell School of Art (1948-1952) and exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy in the late 1940s.Whilst living in Cambridge in the 1960s, Roy Turner Durrant managed the Heffer Art Gallery, which was once part of Heffer’s bookshop. He came to know Jim Ede, the founder of Kettle’s Yard, who was friends with many emerging artists. When Jim Ede moved to Edinburgh in 1973, Roy Turner Durrant dedicated an artwork to him which included an inscription: ‘To Jim Ede on his leaving Cambridge, 1973.’ They wrote letters to each other discussing their mutual interests in art and literature until Jim’s death in 1990.