London Group

London Group
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Name	London Group
Formation	1913
Founders	Walter Sickert, Jacob Epstein, Dora Carrington
Location	London
Purpose	Exhibition of modern art

London Group The London Group is an artist-run association formed in 1913 in London to provide exhibition opportunities for avant-garde painters and sculptors excluded from establishment venues such as the Royal Academy of Arts and the New English Art Club. It emerged amid contemporary debates involving figures associated with the Fauvism-influenced Camden Town Group, the sculptural innovations of Jacob Epstein, and the critical interventions of Roger Fry and the Omega Workshops. The Group catalysed contacts between artists active in Paris, Berlin, and New York, influencing networks that included members exhibiting at the Armory Show and interacting with curators from the Tate Gallery and the British Museum.

History

The Group originated from a merger of artists who chafed at the conservative selections of the Royal Academy of Arts and sought alternatives promoted by the New English Art Club and the International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers. Early meetings involved proponents from the Camden Town Group, associates of Walter Sickert, and sculptors like Jacob Epstein; they organized shows in venues such as the Grafton Galleries and later in municipal spaces connected to the City of London Corporation and galleries frequented by collectors like Samuel Courtauld. During the interwar period the Group exhibited alongside touring collections from the Musée du Luxembourg and responded to exhibitions by Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse shown in London. World War I and II disrupted activity, but postwar recoveries aligned the Group with trends visible at the British Council-sponsored shows and exchanges with artists associated with the St Ives School and the Paris Salon.

Membership and Key Figures

The Group’s roster has included painters, sculptors, printmakers and later installation artists linked to institutions such as the Slade School of Fine Art, the Royal College of Art, and the Central Saint Martins. Prominent early figures included Walter Sickert, Jacob Epstein, and Dora Carrington; subsequent members and exhibitors have featured names associated with Ben Nicholson, Barbara Hepworth, Henry Moore, Lucian Freud, Francis Bacon, John Piper, Bridget Riley, David Hockney, Peter Blake, Frank Auerbach, Euan Uglow, Paula Rego, and Anish Kapoor. The Group also provided exhibition space for international visitors connected to Marcel Duchamp, Kurt Schwitters, Wassily Kandinsky, and artists shown at the Salon d'Automne and the Deutsche Werkbund.

Exhibitions and Activities

Exhibitions have ranged from small member-organized displays to larger juried shows attracting critics from publications such as The Burlington Magazine and reviewers from newspapers like The Times and the Daily Telegraph. The Group mounted thematic shows reflecting currents such as Cubism and Surrealism, sometimes in dialogue with touring retrospectives of Paul Cézanne and Giorgio de Chirico held in London venues. Collaborative projects linked the Group with educational programs at the Victoria and Albert Museum and outreach exhibitions supported by the Arts Council of Great Britain and later the Arts Council England. Sales and catalogues brought the Group into contact with dealers from Goupil & Cie, Tate Britain acquisition committees, and collectors like Samuel Courtauld and Hugh Lane.

Artistic Styles and Influence

Members worked across a spectrum including post-Impressionist tendencies associated with Paul Gauguin and Vincent van Gogh-inspired painters, geometric approaches linked to Piet Mondrian and Kazimir Malevich, and figurative practices resonant with the School of London painters. The Group’s exhibitions showcased dialogues between British traditions exemplified by John Constable and J. M. W. Turner (as historical touchstones in British display contexts) and continental avant-garde experiments practiced by artists connected to the Bauhaus and the Bloomsbury Group. Its influence is traceable in later movements represented at venues such as Institute of Contemporary Arts, the Whitechapel Gallery, and international exchanges that connected London artists with the Venice Biennale and the Documenta exhibitions.

Organization and Governance

The Group has operated as a member-run collective with elected committees overseeing exhibitions, selection panels, and membership ballots, drawing on administrative models used by the New English Art Club and artist societies like the Royal Society of British Artists. Decisions about venues, catalogues and prizes have periodically involved liaison with curators from the Tate Gallery, trustees from the National Gallery, and funders including the Arts Council England. Over decades the governance structure adapted to include statutory responsibilities, venue contracts with the City of London Corporation, and partnerships with academic departments at the University of London and art schools such as the Royal Academy Schools.

Category:Art groups and collectives Category:British art