British Drawings 1890-1990

British Drawings: 1890-1990 at Sotherans and Drawings 1990-2022 at Purdy Hicks Gallery are two exhibitions that highlight the importance of drawing to artists over the last 120 years. The Slade School of Fine Art dominates, with artists such as Winifred Knights, Evelyn Gibbs, Anne Newland, Thomas Monnington, Robert Austin, Alan Sorrell, and Reginald Brill exemplifying its teachings. The artists share common traits such as an obsession with nature, an attachment to landscape, an immersion in the narrative tradition, and an inability to resist humor and affection for the quirky and mundane.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 104 pages
Publication date: 15 July 2023
Publisher: Liss Llewellyn

British Drawings: 1890-1990 at Sotherans and Drawings 1990-2022 at Purdy Hicks Gallery are two exhibitions that have been timed to coincide. Both exhibitions emphasize the importance of drawing to artists of the last 120 years, even though many of the artists have used myriad other art forms. The artists reflect their times, with the artists from 1890-1980 being associated with strong schools of thought. One school in particular, the Slade School of Fine Art, dominates. Its rigorous process of drawing underpins much that we see, but is interpreted differently by artist. There was most definitely a British School, and in terms of drawing, its greatest triumph can be found in the remarkable works produced by the artists of the British School at Rome with their use of drawing techniques dating back to the Renaissance. This catalogue contains outstanding examples by Winifred Knights, Evelyn Gibbs, Anne Newland, Thomas Monnington, Robert Austin, Alan Sorrell, and Reginald Brill.

Winifred Knights, a Slade student, exemplified the teachings of Henry Tonks, Professor of Fine Art at the Slade from 1918 to 1930, with her observation of nature and meticulous methodology, working through endless studies, which were in turn painstakingly transferred to create finished works. Gilbert Spencer, another of the Professors students, recalled how Tonks talked of dedication, the privilege of being an artist, that to do a bad drawing was like living with a lie, and he proceeded to implant these ideals by ruthless and withering criticism. I remember once coming home and feeling like flinging myself under a train, and Stan telling me not to mind a.

Weight: 342g
Dimension: 160 x 240 x 9 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781999314590