Arthur Moyse


Arthur Moyse was an Anglo-Irish anarchist, artist and writer.

Early life

Moyse was born in County Wexford, Ireland in 1914. His father, who was a merchant seaman, was lost at sea when he was young. Around that time, his family left Ireland and moved to Shepherd's Bush in West London, where he was brought up by his working mother and his Irish grandmother, who were 'solidly conservative'. In his youth, he was actively involved in political activity, including the 1936 battle of Cable Street in the East End of London, during which he helped to block British Union of Fascists leader Oswald Mosley’s march through the East End.

Adult life

Moyse served with the British Army during the Second World War and took part in the 1944 airborne assault at Arnhem in the Netherlands. He was court-martialled twice for insubordination, which reflected his lifelong disdain for authority. In 1946, he began work on the buses for London Transport as a bus conductor in West London. He kept his job for decades and refused to leave even when he was offered a promotion, seeing it as part of his commitment to the working class.
Moyse was a self-taught artist. , the Blackburn-based poet who founded the influential poetry magazine Poetmeat and its successor Global Tapestry, recalled that Moyse was prolific - he produced humorous and satirical cartoons, collages, watercolours, and pen-and-ink work, much of which was directed at the hypocrisies of middle-class life and the establishment. Cunliffe also recalled that, in the 1960s: From the late 1960s to the early 1980s, Moyse was closely associated with Freedom, the British anarchist newspaper, where he wrote art criticism and contributed illustrations and political cartoons. Moyse also wrote articles for its related serial publications, Anarchy and .
Moyse exhibited his art in various London galleries, including solo shows at the Flowers Gallery, and was a familiar figure in Soho’s radical and bohemian arts scenes. He maintained a habit of sending illustrated letters and postcards to friends, often including satirical or political messages. Among his published works are The golden convolvulus, More in Sorrow Six short stories, Fragments of Notes for an Autobiography, and a co-authored pamphlet Surrealism and Revolution with fellow anarchist Jim Duke. He also illustrated texts, for example Shelley’s The Mask of Anarchy.
In his later years, Moyse lived in a small, cluttered flat in Shepherd's Bush, surrounded by decades' worth of newspapers, zines, and art materials. He became increasingly reclusive, especially after the death of his beloved dog, Vicki. He died in 2003 at the age of 88.
Academic curator expressed her fear that Moyse's huge archive of material 'has all but disappeared'. The Arts Council holds his work Private View in its collection. Chelsea Arts Club holds one of his works in its collection. And the Victoria and Albert Museum has a print by him in its collection. His artistic and written works have become collectable.

Publications

Articles

  • 1960.
  • 1964.
  • 1966.
  • 1967.
  • 1968.
  • 1972.
  • 1987.
  • 1991.
  • 1994.
  • 1995.
  • 1996.
  • 2000.

    Miscellaneous

  • 1964.

    Books

  • 1963.
  • 1965.
  • 1965.
  • 1968.
  • 1976.
  • 1982.