Late & Post Modern
Creative Tensions: British Art 1900-1950
128 pages, hardback, 274 x 240 mm, 110 colour illustrations
PRICE: £25.00
ISBN: 978-1-903470-28-2
Edited by Stephen Whittle. With contributions by Adrian Jenkins, Francis Marshall, David Morris, Stephen Whittle, Dinah Winch
"Featuring more than 100 beautifully reproduced paintings, this handsome and informative volume fills a serious gap in the study of modern British art and should be included in all strong art collections", Martin Chasin, Library Journal Review
From 1900 to 1950 Lancashire's galleries, fuelled by large endowment funds and civic pride, vied with each other to build collections of work by the most important artists living in Britain. Creative Tension showcases the outstanding collections of Gallery Oldham; the Harris Museum & Art Gallery, Preston; Bolton Museum & Art Gallery; Touchstones Rochdale; along with a small number of works from other North-west British galleries.
The period was a time of great change, excitement and conflict in British art. The collections of the four galleries are used to present an alternative history of the time, showing the tensions and crossovers between very different artistic styles. Works by famous artists such as L.S. Lowry, Ben Nicholson, Alfred Munnings, Jacob Epstein, Lucian Freud and Mark Gertler are featured alongside works by now lesser-known artists whose work nevertheless has great interest.A significant role is played also by studio pottery, which in the theory of the time was perceived as an abstract art equivalent in importance to painting and sculpture.