Artists Groups in and around London in the 20th Century

This course, delivered in an informal lecture format, explores 20th-century artist groups in and around London, examining their collaborative impact on art, culture, and social change. You will explore how modernity and ideas of the avant-garde shaped the artists living and working in the city. We will cover most of the art movements that the 20th century has become known for by looking at the groups who represented the exciting changes happening in art: Impressionism and Post-Impressionism (The Camden Town Group), Expressionism (The Bloomsbury Group), Cubism and Futurism and Abstraction (The Vorticists and New Abstraction), Realist Figurative Painting (The School of London) and Conceptual and Installation Art (The Young British Artists). We will study important British artists from each group, such as Walter Sickert, Vanessa Bell, Jacob Epstein, Francis Bacon and Tracey Emin. We will also look at the curators, writers and patrons who supported the groups (Roger Fry, Martin Gayford, Charles Saatchi) and the historical places where they met and discussed new ideas.