The London Mercury, Vol. I, Nos. 1-6, November 1919 to April 1920Various
General
The London Mercury, Vol. I, Nos. 1-6, November 1919 to April 1920
Various
English literature -- Periodicals; London (England) -- Periodicals
The New English Art Club has been handicapped by the commandeering of
its gallery by the Government. Still, here again the god-fathers and
professors still hold the sway, and it is only in such bodies as the
Allied Artists Association, the Friday Club, and the London Group,
that the new blood can be more or less assured of a place to exhibit
their work and obtain their share in the business of acceptance for,
and arrangement of, exhibitions. All these societies are now firmly
established, though the last-named has sustained a great loss by the
death of its admirable president, Harold Gilman. The Allied Artists is
a thoroughly democratic institution and a step towards a trade union of
artists, if such a thing is possible: that some step in that direction
is needed there can be no doubt, as the artist suffers very severely
indeed from the middleman. These societies, then, in their exhibits
generally, show renewed signs of energy and development in art.
The employment of younger men in an official capacity as war artists
instead of such Academicians as were not too infirm to bear the weight
of a steel helmet, showed unusual wisdom and perspicuity on behalf
of the responsible bodies concerned. The direct result was a fine
collection of paintings by men who, for the most part, had been able to
depict their impressions of war in war's surroundings, or record their
experiences, not easily forgotten, after they had been freed from the
ranks. An exhibition of these paintings held in America was attended
with marked success, and helped to make known the work of young English
artists in that country. C. R. W. Nevinson, Paul Nash, Wyndham Lewis,
and Eric Kennington, to mention only a few, have produced some fine
and lasting records of their impressions _in medias res_. The public
will have an opportunity of seeing the fine collection of paintings
commissioned and collected by the Imperial War Museum this winter. The
effect of this official employment is particularly noticeable upon the
more extreme body of painters known as the Vorticists with Wyndham
Lewis at the head: they have voluntarily or involuntarily made certain
concessions to representation ("compromise" is in bad odour now) in
their work, but these concessions have in no way weakened the results
of their toil, as appeared evident at the Canadian War Memorials
Exhibition this spring.
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