London Group (English artists’ association)
The London Group is an English artists' association founded in 1913, originally intended as a response to the prevailing conservatism of the Royal Academy of Arts. Established in Brighton, the group included notable figures from the British avant-garde, such as Harold Gilman, Walter Sickert, and David Bomberg, and sought to provide a platform for innovative artists to exhibit their work independently. The first official exhibition took place in London in 1914, showcasing a diverse range of styles, from post-impressionism to cubism and futurism.
Although the group's progressive influence waned by the 1930s, it has remained active and continues to hold annual exhibitions, adapting to the evolving art landscape. The London Group is known for its eclectic membership and has included a mix of sculptors, painters, and other visual artists over the years. Today, it consists of nearly ninety elected members who uphold the organization's commitment to promoting contemporary visual art through exhibitions, primarily located in The Cello Factory in London. Despite its historical significance, recent attention from art historians has often shifted towards more stylistically cohesive groups, leaving the London Group as a unique but less spotlighted facet of British art history.
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London Group (English artists’ association)
The London Group is an artistic society composed of working artists, which was founded in England in 1913, and still exists today. On the eve of World War I, it brought together figures from various backgrounds, mainly from the British avant-garde, and was meant as a protest against the conservatism taught and displayed at the Royal Academy of Arts. The group included artists from the Camden Town Group, British post-impressionists, English followers of cubism and futurism, as well as more independent personalities. It officially exhibited for the first time in London in 1914 at the Goupil Gallery, and still holds an annual exhibition. The group ceased to be a progressive one during the 1930s, yet its success and reputation are still intact. It is usually considered by art historians as one of the last important twentieth century artistic associations of the British avant-garde.
Brief History
The London Group was founded in Brighton, a town on the south coast of England, on October 25, 1913. There were thirty-two founding members, which included women as well as men. Among the founders were innovative artists such as painters Harold Gilman (1876–1919) and Walter Sickert (1860–1942), from the post-impressionist Camden Town Group. They were joined by painter David Bomberg (1890–1957), whose work was greatly influenced by continental examples of Italian futurism and Picasso’s cubism, and painter and author Percy Wyndham Lewis (1882–1957), the founder of vorticism, a British modernist movement. Sculptors Jacob Epstein (1880–1959) and Henri Gaudier-Brzeska (1891–1915) were also among the first members of the group. The first (unofficial) exhibition was held in Brighton (Dec. 1913–Jan. 1914). Its title was An Exhibition of the Work of English Post-Impressionists, Cubist and Others, thus demonstrating the great stylistic diversity that has always been the group hallmark.
The objective of the group was to give young artists an opportunity to present their works independently from the official and influential rigidity of the Royal Academy of Arts. Indeed, aesthetic radicalism usually prevented them from entering the very selective and very conservative Academy. The institution, which was often considered as a reference by the public, had the monopoly over artistic exhibitions. As a result it enabled, or prevented, young modern artists from entering the British scene and having access to fame or potential clients. The London Group offered its members and willing outsiders a significant alternative. Its first official exhibition was held in the British capital city at the Goupil Gallery, from March to April of 1914. From then on, the group members held two exhibitions a year, up until 1939, when they became annual, a tradition that has been maintained by the group members until now.
Among the key works displayed in London in 1914 was David Bomberg’s In the Hold. It represents dockers working in the hold of a ship. Bomberg made a radical statement with his subject by choosing a very modern and contemporary one, which the British public was bound to be familiar with. His stylistic choices were even bolder as he decided to turn a very realistic scene into an almost entirely abstract painting. Using dynamic angular facets, he represented the dockers and their surroundings in a way that combined both futurist and cubist approaches. As a result, his geometrical representation dissolves the story on which the painting is based, to leave the public with a solely visual vivid experience. Another major work shown in 1914 was The Rock Drill, by sculptor Jacob Epstein, who helped define British modern sculpture. It represents a human-like torso with the head of a robot, and is largely influenced by the research conducted by futurist and vorticist artists on modern mechanized and industrialized society. These two works are testament to the influence of ultra-contemporary continental artistic movements. They are emblematic of the stylistic dynamism of the group members and significantly demonstrate its modernity within the British avant-garde.
After World War I, the number of vorticist members declined with the departure of Wyndham Lewis and Epstein, and the deaths of Gaudier-Brzeska and Gilman. They were soon replaced by less provocative painters from the Bloomsbury group, an association of London-based artists and intellectuals protesting against Victorian culture. The London Group elected new modern members in the 1930s, such as progressist sculptors Henry Moore (1898–1986), known for his abstract rendering of the human figure, and Barbara Hepworth (1903–1975), but the group’s assertive eclecticism did not agree with them and their participation was short-lived. After that, despite the group ability to maintain its activity even through World War II, its influence over British contemporary art declined significantly. Its exhibitions continued nonetheless, especially during the 1950s and the 1960s, culminating with its Jubilee exhibition in 1964 at the Tate Gallery.
The Long Group Today
The London Group’s diversity was both its strength and its weakness. The absence of communal stylistic coherence and aesthetic statements resulted in a lack of cohesion among artists during the twentieth century and an important turnover in members ever since the group’s creation. As a result, the group was unable to be of notable influence on the British school after the 1930s. Subsequently, recent critical researches on the London Group are scarce, as art historians usually focus on individuals, or artistic associations with stronger stylistic identities such as the Camden Town Group or vorticists.
The London group is still a democratic community of working visual artists practicing very diverse mediums and styles. There are just under ninety elected members. The Group still actively promotes diversity and is faithful to its written constitution "to advance public awareness of contemporary visual art by holding exhibitions annually." These exhibitions, based mainly at The Cello Factory in the Waterloo neighborhood in London, are also open to nonmembers.
Bibliography
"About." The London Group. Web. 2 July 2015.
Antliff Mark. The Vorticists: Manifesto for a Modern World. London: Tate, 2011. Print.
Dickson Rachel, Sarah MacDougall, eds. Uproar: The First 50 Years of the London Group 1913–1963. London: Lund Humphries, 2013. Print
Forge, Claude, Alan Bowness, Dennis Farr. London Group: 1914–1964, Jubilee Exhibition: Fifty Years of British Art at the Tate Gallery. London: Tate, 1964. Print.
Humphreys, Richard. Tate Britain Companion to British Art. London: Tate, 2006. Print.
Manson, James Bolivar, The London Group’s Rules and Constitution. London: Tate, 1914. Print
Redfern, David, The London Group : A history 1913–2013. London: The London Group, 2013. Print.
Upstone Robert. Modern Painters: The Camden Town Group. London: Tate, 2008. Print.