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The legacy of Lucy Wertheim as a curator and collector speaks through the successes of the artists that she took beneath her wing. Working in an art world dominated by masculine ideals and with no formal art training, Lucy relied on her own taste as well as personal connections with the young painters she advocated.

It was important to her that the stories of these artists would be told through the exhibitions she held at The Wertheim Gallery, an approach Towner has honoured and embraced for two concurrent shows, A Life in Art & Reuniting the Twenties Group.

Of these young artists were Benny Rakoczi and Kenneth Hall, who Lucy had known from London in the 1930s and had kept in contact with over the war years. In this new long read piece, Chris Rakoczi, grandson of Benny, describes the somewhat tumultuous artistic lives of the couple, who together founded the White Stag Group, interested in “holding the conscious world in voluntary abeyance.”

Chris writes, “Subjective expressionism, which was the label both artists acquired, meant painting from the heart, the soul, the sub-conscious and what appeared on the canvas could be interpreted afterwards. They both passionately believed this was a more honest approach to painting.”

Read the full article here