Modern British Art in Focus

Tickets

£270 / £240 (Towner Members)

Members discount will be automatically applied at checkout

Tea, coffee and a breakfast pastry included with each session.

This course can only be purchased as a full six–week course. If for any reason you need to miss a session, a summary and all relevant information will be sent through to you digitally.

This six–week course offers an introduction to modern British art by exploring a selection of predominantly British artists and artistic movements, and their response to the dramatic societal changes which occurred during the first half of the 20th- century. The development of the modern city, burgeoning industrialisation, the machine age and, above all, the devastating effects of two world wars, transformed every aspect of life in Britain. Throughout the course, we will explore the diverse ways in which artists sought ways to respond to these changes. Whilst some took their lead from avant-garde, often continental groups, others chose to look closer to home, seeking inspiration and often solace in quintessentially British traditions and the British landscape. Themes and artists have been included to tie in with selected works from the extensive Towner Collection.

Each session will begin with an illustrated tutor presentation in the state-of-the-art Towner cinema space, providing key background information and structure, alongside group discussion and debate. To complement these introductory sessions, course members will then have the opportunity to explore a selection of works in the Towner art store. Both in the introductory session and in the art store, course members will be given ample opportunity to offer their own perspective and express their views about the art works in focus. 

Whilst previous knowledge of art history is useful, it is by no means essential.  A reading list and a list of the works discussed will be provided and links to further material and information about the artists will be available after each session to those class members who would like to pursue further independent research.

Jill Denman, MA, PGCE studied Modern Languages at the University of Durham and History of Art at the Courtauld Institute. She is an experienced freelance tutor who has delivered History of Art courses for a wide range of institutions, including Towner Eastbourne, Hastings Contemporary and the University of Kent.

Week 1 Art Quake!

Responses to Roger Fry’s landmark 1910 exhibition Manet and the Post-Impressionists; ‘les jeunes’ at The Slade and the impact of WWI

Stanley Spencer, Mark Gertler, Dora Carrington, David Bomberg

Week 2 The SEVEN & FIVE

Diverse ways to express modernity between the two World Wars.

Leon Underwood, Ben Nicholson, Winifred Nicholson, Ivon Hitchens, John Piper

Week 3 Designers of Distinction: an ‘outbreak of talent’ at the Royal College of Art

Enid Marx, Peggy Angus, Tirzah Garwood, Eric Ravilious, Barnett Freedman, Edward Bawden

Week 4 Recording Britain: capturing the essence of the British landscape and traditions for posterity as WWII looms

Barbara Jones, Phyllis Ginger, John Piper, Kenneth Rowntree

Week 5 A Spirit of Place: British Neo-Romantic Artists

John Craxton, John Minton, Robert MacBryde, Robert Colquhoun

Week 6 Modernism and St Ives: the arrival of the avant-garde in St Ives at the outbreak of WWII

Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson and the ‘new generation’ including Peter Lanyon, Patrick Heron, Terry Frost and William Scott