New Drawing Room Display: Modern Art and Publishing between 1935 and 1955

The new Drawing Room Display Modern Art and Publishing between 1935 and 1955: The Peter and Renate Nahum Gift focuses on publications which were crucial to circulating knowledge and ideas about modern art in Britain from the 1930s through to the 1950s.

A very large collection of books and exhibition catalogues was generously donated by Peter and Renate Nahum in December 2012, contained within this gift are some of the most significant modernist periodicals and publications of this period – Unit One, Axis and The London Bulletin. These publications championed the work of British artists such as Barbara Hepworth, Paul Nash and Henry Moore, but also reproduced images by artists from across the globe. Through the publications, we can track how groups of artists, critics, writers, publishers and booksellers worked collaboratively, and often against the grain, to promote contemporary art in Britain. Each display case focuses on one of the three publications named above and a selection of the artists and writers most closely associated with them.

The Display is free to view during the Centre's opening hours until 17 January 2020.