Augustus John, Walking Soldier with Pack, 1917-1918, chalk and white heightening on paper. Purchase, 1969 (12-041). Photo Credit: Frances K. Smith
Exhibitions
Persistent Forms
Frances K. Smith Gallery
12 November 2006 - 11 March 2007
The Art Centre is fortunate to count a number of fine British drawings and prints from the first decades of the 20th century in its collection. Lesser known today than during their lifetimes, artists such as Augustus John, Jacob Epstein and Stanley Spencer defined the British figural tradition during the first half of the century, steadfastly eschewing the impulse towards abstraction that drove the artistic avant-garde on the Continent and in the United States. Today, notions of modernism in art history are being re-assessed, and these artists now occupy a new and more prominent place in our ideas of what constituted the innovation and creativity of the day. Persistent Forms presented around 15 works, several recently acquired, to examine the British contribution with fresh perspective.
Organized by Queen's University doctoral candidate Kristin Campbell, under the supervision of Janet M. Brooke.
Janet M. Brooke