Early 20th Century British Art - Between the Wars
#SUBHEADING#7+ 5 Group and Neo-Romanticism#SUBHEADINGEND# This was the only progressive artist's group in existence between the Wars that had no particular stylistic or theoretical principles. It included 7 painters and 5 sculptors, who joined in reacting against the narrow interests of the Bloomsbury and London Groups. As it only lasted until 1935, the works of members at the Ferens Art Gallery, only represent their later ideas and development. These include Ben Nicholson and Cedric Morris, who drew on cubism and naive but symbolic landscapes. Neo-Romantic artists like Paul Nash and Graham Sutherland, created ideal views of the English countryside in its most poetic form. Other more formalist ideas can be seen in the works of Frances Hodgkins and Ivon Hitchens, which are created through interlocking abstract forms and symbolic colour. #SUBHEADING#Surrealism in Britain#SUBHEADINGEND# Surrealism, the art of dreams and chance, was first established in Paris through various magazines that featured the works of surrealist writers and visual artists. This revolutionary art movement was introduced to Britain by the artist Roland Penrose, who organised the 1936 International Surrealist Exhibition in London. His own surrealist work can be seen in paintings like, 'Octavia', which reflects the menace and violence at the eve of WWII. Other British Surrealist works in the Ferens collection are by E. Burra, Tristram Hillier, Conroy Maddox and J.S. Bigge, that also reveal disturbing worlds, based on the irrational and unconscious mind. These artist began as members of the Unit One Group founded by Paul Nash in 1933 to promote both abstract and surrealist art, but only organised one exhibition before they broke up over disagreements on their founding principles. Abstraction was also being overshadowed at the time by the effects of Surrealism, which is clearly illustrated in the painting by John Armstrong, 'On the Balustrade'. #SUBHEADING#Independents#SUBHEADINGEND# Other artists at the time, developed along more traditional and independent lines, inspired by the 'Old Masters' in their concern for the portrayal of a subject in realist and classical detail. This can be seen in the paintings of M. Frampton, G. Brockhurst, and Stanley Spencer. Spencer was exceptional among this group in his visionary approach to the interpretation of the life and environment of his local village of Cookham. #SUBHEADING#World War II and its Aftermath#SUBHEADINGEND# The conservative reaction of modern artists the destructive effects of WWII, led to a return of traditional forms and subjects, in an attempt to preserve a national landscape and identity. This was encouraged by the work of Official War Artists, who provided an accurate visual record of the Home Front and troops abroad, as in Paul Nash's, Objective Blenheim 1941. However, you still get a good idea of the concerns of artists before the War in works like Graham Sutherland's 'Devastation' of 1941, that presents a symbolic vision of the destructive forces of War on the order and shape of the natural world.
Early 20th Century British Art - Artists Groups
From the creation of 'Post-Impressionism' by Roger Fry in London, further groups began to form around the studios of particular artists, following the example of the leading independent artists in France. It is from this point that London began to contribute to the direction and development of modernism on an equal footing with Paris, with radical artists moving easily between both cities.
Early 20th Century British Art - The Rise of Modernism
The period of British Art dating from the turn of the 20th century, marked the rise of modernism in response to the influences of French Impressionism and reaction against the Art establishment in the form of the Salon in Paris and the Royal Academy in London. This gave rise to the various movements into which impressionism divided through the works of Cezanne, Degas, Renoir, Van Gogh, Gauguin. It also led to the recognition of 'Post-Impressionism' and the ideas and methods of European modernism from Fauvism to Cubism.
History of the Ferens Art Gallery (part 2)
The Ferens Art gallery was completed in eighteen months and opened in 1927. Read about the changes and develpments the gallery has been through from its opening to the present day.
History of the Ferens Art Gallery (part 1)
At the turn of the twentieth century Hull's art collections were housed in variety of locations. Thomas Robinson Ferens decided that a purpose built art gallery should be constructed and so work began on the Ferens Art gallery in 1926.
Hull & Barnsley Railway Albums
Wonderful photographic images of the construction of the Hull & Barnsley Railway, now available to view on our collections website.
Dutch 17th Century Landscapes
The Ferens Art Gallery collection has a particularly good representation of the 17th century Dutch landscape tradition. Read on to find out more about how this genre developed and who was involved.
Late 18th and early 19th British and European Landscapes
Read on to discover how the genre of landscapes developed in eighteenth and nineteenth century Britain and Europe.
Fred Elwell
Frederick William Elwell was born in 1870 in Beverley, a market town situated seven miles from Hull. His father James was a cabinet-maker, and it is to him that Fred owed his high standards of achievement and his love of craftsmanship. Fred began to study art at evening classes at the Lincoln School of Art. In 1887 he won a scholarship which enabled him to embark upon full time studies. It was during his period at Lincoln that he developed an interest in the work of the French Impressionist painters.
