Bomberg was one of the most audacious of the exceptional generation of artists who studied at the Slade School of Art under Henry Tonks, and which included Mark Gertler, Stanley Spencer, C.R.W. Nevinson, and Dora Carrington. Bomberg painted a series of complex geometric compositions combining the influences of cubism and futurism in the years immediately preceding World War I; typically using a limited number of striking colours, turning humans into simple, angular shapes, and sometimes overlaying the whole painting a strong grid-work colouring scheme.
The Vision of Ezekiel, 1912 The subject is taken from the Hebrew Bible. God guided the prophet Ezekiel to a valley full of bones and commanded him to speak: ‘There was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together.’ Skeletal yet animated, the figures appear to emerge from the platform. Bomberg’s painting style is often associated with vorticism.
Vision of Ezekiel 1912 David Bomberg 1890-1957 Purchased with assistance from the Morton Bequest through the Contemporary Art Society 1970
In The Hold, 1914 Bomberg has divided the canvas into a grid of squares that are themselves divided. The effect of this is to shatter form, transforming the scene into a kinetic pattern of shape and dazzling colour. Though the image has become hard to decipher, the fragmented composition expresses the energy of men at work in an industrial environment
In the Hold c.1913-4 David Bomberg 1890-1957 Presented by the Friends of the Tate Gallery 1967
The Mud Bath, 1914 Bathing figures were a traditional way of depicting the nude, but here Bomberg brings the subject into the modern era by basing the scene on steam baths used by the local Jewish population near Bomberg’s home in east London. Bomberg was closely associated with a group of artists known as the vorticists. Their aim was to create art that expressed the modern world through imagery derived from machines and the urban environment. Here Bomberg reduces the human figure to a series of geometric shapes, a process he described as ‘searching for an intense expression’.
The Mud Bath 1914 David Bomberg 1890-1957 Purchased 1964
Barbara Hepworth was born in 1903 and was one of few women to gain global recognition as an artist in the first half of the twentieth century. Her most celebrated sculptures were crafted in wood, stone and bronze and the exposition at The Tate Gallery looks back at these most recognisable and noteworthy pieces. Hepworth is now inarguably a modernist icon. An advocate for the dynamic nature of art, Hepworth insisted that her sculptures should be patted, walked around and peered inside.
Barbara Hepworth at Trewyn Studio, 1961Photograph by Rosemary Mathews, Courtesy Bowness, Hepworth Estate
Mother and Child 1934
Mother and Child is a small abstract stone sculpture, which is horizontal in configuration and has an undulating and biomorphic shape. The work’s title suggests that the sculpture is loosely figurative, with the larger shape that comprises most of the sculpture representing the reclining figure of the mother, and the smaller shape that rests on top of it a child held in her embrace. Although they are independent sculptural elements, both mother and child appear to have been carved from the same piece of Cumberland alabaster. Each of the figures has a nodule-shaped head with a single white eye drilled into it, and there is a large opening in the centre of the work that denotes the space beneath the mother’s arm as it rests upon her leg. The work sits off-centre on a thin rectangular base made from white-grey marble.
Mother and Child 1934 Dame Barbara Hepworth 1903-1975 Purchased with assistance from the Friends of the Tate Gallery 1993 – image 1
Mother and Child 1934 Dame Barbara Hepworth 1903-1975 – image 2
Sea Form (Porthmeor) 1958
Porthmeor is a beach close to Hepworth’s studio in St Ives, Cornwall. A critic thought this sculpture ‘seems to belong to the living world of the sea.’ The curling top lip of the bronze is like a representation of a breaking wave while the green and white patina of the inner surface recalls the colour of the sea and surf. At Porthmeor, Hepworth observed the changing tide, the movement of sand and wind, and the footprints of people and birds. For her, the rhythm of the tides was part of a natural order to which humankind also belongs.
Seaforam (Porthmeor) 1958 Dame Barbara Hepworth 1903-1975 – image 2
The Art Critic 1919-20 Raoul Hausmann, Tate Modern;
Raoul Hausmann and other members of Berlin’s Dada movement had become disgusted with the more traditional art styles and the lifestyles that they represented. In 1919, Hausmann expressed his disapproval through a photomontage entitled The Art Critic. The piece challenges the idea of the traditional art critic as well as a critic’s motivations and qualifications for deciding what is fashionable or acceptable art.
The art critic also can be interpreted as a representation of society as a whole at this time. Hausmann did not agree with the superficiality and lack of individuality found in the Weimar Republic. He also was against the influence of money, especially in a capitalistic society. Hausmann supported new, different forms of art. He did not like the bias of critics toward the traditional styles. The Art Critic incorporates a rather chaotic organization of photographs and cutouts to express these feelings.
The central subject of Hausmann’s work is obviously an art critic. He uses what appears to be a cut out of man with head that is much too large. The man is identified as George Grosz. Grosz, who was a fellow member of the Dada movement, plays the role of the art reporter. His name is stamped onto the photo, yet it is crossed out. The man’s eyes and mouth are sloppy and cartoonish, drawn with colored pencil on small pieces of paper. He is holding an extremely large pencil. There are two smaller subjects, a woman and the shape of a man cut out of a newspaper.
Like other members of the Dada movement, Hausmann was undermining the usual cultural values through his works of art. The art critic is one of the people that have an influence on deciding these values. Therefore, Hausmann wanted to show the people that he was more influential than he should be. By distorting the appearance of the critic, Hausmann is showing that the critic’s opinions are also distorted and irrelevant. The eyes of the art critic, drawn on paper, cannot properly see art as they should. The critic only sees what he thinks the woman to the right, a member of high society, wants him to see. Therefore, whatever comes out of his mouth is unimportant and untrue to Hausmann. The letters in the background, like the words of the critic, are loud and incomprehensible. Hausmann chose to make the pencil so large because it shows how much power the critic has. The pencil is the art critic’s weapon. He can write whatever he chooses. Interpreting art is subjective and Hausmann believed that no man should be qualified to determine what art is good or bad.
Nicholson’s earliest paintings were still lifes influenced by those of his father. In the 1920s he began painting figurative and abstract works inspired by Post Impressionism and Cubism. He produced his first geometric and abstract reliefs in 1933. He first exhibited in 1919, at the Grosvenor Gallery and Grafton Galleries. His first one-man show was held at the Twenty-one Gallery.
In 1952 Nicholson won first prize at the Carnegie International, Pittsburgh. He was awarded the first Guggenheim International painting prize in 1956, and the international prize for painting at the Sao Paulo Bienal in 1957. Numerous retrospective exhibitions of his work have been held, including shows at the Venice Biennale and Tate Gallery in 1954-5, Kunsthalle and Tate Gallery in 1993-4.
Helped by wide international exposure in British Council tours during the 1940s and 1950s and by the championing of the writer Herbert Read, Nicholson’s work came to be seen, with Henry Moore’s, as the quintessence of British modernism.
Nicholson made his first entirely abstract work, 1924 (first abstract painting, Chelsea), in his Chelsea studio, where he often stayed, while his wife, painter Winifred Nicholson, preferred to work in their farmhouse, Bankshead, in Cumberland.
Spots and stripes and their reflections continued to play a part in Ben’s work throughout the 1930s after he met and fell in love with Barbara Hepworth in 1931. Ben and Barbara went to Dieppe, a favourite haunt for artists in August 1932. A shoe shop called ‘Au Chat Botté’ (Puss in Boots), on the Grande rue caught Ben’s eye. He told Winifred that he painted for three days without stopping when he got back to London. The result was 1932 (Au Chat Botté).
Nicholson, Ben; 1932 (Au Chat Botte); Manchester Art Gallery;
The ‘roughness’ and the use of plaster on plywood was another step towards his reliefs of the following year. The stripy bar echoes the stripy French pencils both Ben and Barbara liked very much: they reminded Barbara of barbers’ poles. Ben holds one in the photograph of his hands taken for the Unit One catalogue in 1934.
Nicholson, Ben; 1932 (Auberge de la Sole Dieppoise); Tate Modern;
Here Nicholson floats circles, triangles and other shapes on a dark and milk chocolate coloured background. He creates a sense of rhythm and movement through the use of contrasting blue and red dots and straight and arcing scored white lines. These lines were produced by scratching through paint to reveal a white layer beneath. For Nicholson, this technique emphasised the painting’s materials and its status as an object in its own right. In 1934, he described his process as a way of creating ‘a living thing as nice as a poodle with two shining black eyes.’
1933 (milk and plain chocolate) 1933, Tate Britain;
My work is not about ‘form follows function,’ but ‘form follows beauty’ or, even better, ‘form follow feminine’.
Image 1 – Havre Cultural Centre in France (exterior area)
The conception of the ‘Future Space’ project used as a creative support, the design language of the modernist and Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer, which beliefs in the plastic freedom of volumes and consciously ignores ‘the highly praised right angle and the rational architecture of T-squares and triangles, to wholeheartedly enter the world of curves and new shapes’. In contrast, Le Corbusier’s modular aesthetics and set rules are opposed to Niemeyer’s. Despite sharing a love of concrete, Niemeyer’s rejection of Le Corbusier’s rigidity was monumental in the development of the movement. The architect perfectly sums up his relationship to modern architecture by subverting the movement’s motto ‘form follows function’, and making it his own: ‘my work is not about ‘form follows function’, but ‘form follows beauty’ or, even better, ‘form follows feminine’.
The Havre Cultural Centre
Image 2 – Havre Cultural Centre in France (interior area)
Analysing Niemeyer’s design process on the Havre Cultural Centre project in France, shown on images 1 (exterior area) and 2 (interior area), it’s easy to note a strong contrast between the exterior simplicity and interior complexity, which gives a sense of ‘curiosity’ and ‘mystery’ on the language of the space. Besides, the sculptural shapes create a harmonious choreography in the space which invites people into a journey of movement and constant circulation. To accent the sculptural character, the architect also takes special care for the creation of openings such as doors, windows and gaps. Also, it’s clearly noticed that Niemeyer’s projects reflect a balance between straight lines and curves, where geometry is used to accent the optics illusion character of the organization of form in space.
The Red House it’s the iconic Arts and Crafts home located in Bexleyheath, and passion project of the English textile designer, artist and writer William Morris. This was the only house that the designer William Morris ever built, collaborating with the architect Philip Webb and is a building of extraordinary architectural and social significance. Both designers were influenced by medieval design, and had the ambition to celebrate the manufacturing process and the skill of the craftsmen. Morris and Webb designed the house in a simplified Gothic style. The features of this style include historicizing elements such as steep roofs, prominent chimney and exposed-beam ceilings, all present in Red House. They also viewed the Gothic as a more suitable style for Northern Europe because it originated in France, a northern country, as opposed to the classical forms of ancient Greece and Rome. The use of exposed red brick for the exterior both gave the house its name and reveals the innate beautyof the construction materials. The L-shaped plan of the house allows the house to embrace the gardensas a part of the domestic sphere, as well as creates an asymmetry that is typical of traditional Gothicstructures that were built over long periods of time. Besides, Webb, Morris, his wife, Jane, and the painter Edward Burne-Jones all worked together to design everything in the home, from the wallpaper to thebuilt-in cabinets and furniture, so that all celebrated the beauty of nature and the medieval guild ideal.
The white-painted settle, designed by William Morris The drawing room is dominated by a huge settle, designed by Morris for his previous quarters in Red Lion Square and adapted by Webb. It has three doors painted with scenes from Dante – a wedding present from Rossetti. Regarding the canopy and the ladder at the side, they were added by Webb to create a little minstrels’ gallery and give access to the loft door.
The dining table, designed by William Morris The oak dining table with legs that carry out the house’s castle turret theme is a good example of celebrating simple, utilitarian design and craftsmanship.
The Isokon Gallery – The early Modernism
Founded in 1929, Isokon aimed to bring the new ‘international style’ of modernist design that was emerging across Europe to British homes. The Isokon’s narrative begins with a design firm of the same name, founded by Jack and Molly Pritchard and architect Wells Coates. Their debut project was to design an apartment building and its interior based on the principle of affordable, communal and well-designed inner-city living.
The Prichard’s also shared a deep appreciation of the ideas of Corbusier and the Bauhaus. Their visits to the Stuttgart’s Weissenhoff Estate and the Bauhaus School in Dessau had made a huge impression and in the Prichard’s made a determined effort to plant the seeds of modernism and international style in archly conservative Britain. Besides this, Jack Pritchard was the Sales Manager of the company Venesta, which is the largest manufacturer of plywood in the world in the 1930s and as a result, plywood was exclusively used by Isokon’s furniture production.
The Isokon Long Chair, designed by Marcel Breuer between 1935 and 1936 The chair is considered one of the most important pieces of furniture to emerge from the inter-war modern movement and it’s in the permanent collections of several internationally renowned museums including the Victoria and Albert Museum Breuer came to Britain in the mid-1930s following the closure of the Bauhaus by the Nazis. He became acquainted with Jack Pritchard, the owner of Isokon, whosuggested he design furniture for the company. Pritchard had become interested in the plywood designs of Alvar Aalto and wanted to produce similar furniture himself. The Long Chair was an adaptation of a previous design for an aluminium framed chaise Breuer had produced in 1932
The Penguin Donkey book stand, designed by Egon Riss in the late 1930’s The Donkey’s name originates from its four legs and two side shelf compartments (their form resembling the panniers carried by a beast of burden, typically a donkey). At that time, Allen Lane, founder ofthe young publishing house Penguin Books, was inspired by the Donkey’s design.
2 Willow Road – The early Modernism
Willow Road is a terraced house designed in 1937 by the architect Erno Goldfinger, located in Hampstead, London. It is considered one of the finest examples of modernist housing in the UK. The building was constructed from concrete and red brick facing, a concession necessitated by the controversy of the plans. According to other modernist houses of the time, it comprised strong, clean lines, with exposed load-bearing concrete columns as part of a reinforced concrete frame, and a stretch of continuous windows across the first floor.
The rooms are variously divided by raised levels and removable walls, allowing for the reconfiguration of interior spaces as and when required. The first floor is perhaps the most interesting space as it’s extremely flexible and it can either be a single large space or three separated rooms by a series of sliding doors.
Spiral staircase Designed by the engineer Ove Arup At the end of the entrance hall, there is a spiral staircase with concrete steps and an elegant brass handrail. The wedges of concrete stair treads are cantilevered from the surrounding core,avoiding the need for a central column. This allows light from a top floor skylight to flood down
Pedestal Desk, designed by Ernö Goldfinger Inside the studio, there is a wood and laminate kneehole desk. The top is supported by four lacquered tubular legs and the drawers open on a pivot which means that the back of the drawer is always easily accessible. Used materials: Sapele, plywood, steel, brass and formica
Michael’s work celebrates the beauty of the female form and sexuality. He strives for his work to be uplifting, celebratory, and aesthetically pleasing, yet rich in complexity, causing the viewer to repeatedly return to the piece to find something new. The aesthetic sense springs from wonder at the variety and mystery of the body’s physical reality and abstract potential.
