British Drawings - (1890-1990)

‘Drawings’ is a collaborative venture combining two exhibitions that have been timed to coincide: British Drawings: 1890-1990 at Sotheran’s, and Drawings 1990-2022 at Purdy Hicks Gallery. Both shows emphasise the importance of drawing to artists of the last 120 years: though many of the artists have used myriad other art forms, they have invariably returned to the honesty of drawing, time and time again.

The artists reflect their times. The artists from 1890-1980 are very much associated with strong schools of thought. One school in particular, the Slade School of Fine Art, dominates. Its rigorous process of drawing underpins much that we see, but is of course interpreted differently artist by artist. There was most definitely a British School, and in terms of drawing its greatest, though largely unacknowledged, triumph can be found in the remarkable works produced by the artists of the British School at Rome with their use of drawing techniques dating back to the Renaissance.This catalogue contains outstanding examples by Winifred Knights, Evelyn Gibbs, Anne Newland, Thomas Monnington, Robert Austin, Alan Sorrell and Reginald Brill. Slade student Winifred Knights exemplified the teachings of Henry Tonks, (Professor of Fine Art at the Slade from 1918 to 1930), with her observation of nature and meticulous methodology, working through endless studies, which were in turn painstakingly transferred to create finished works. Gilbert Spencer, another of the Professor’s students, recalled how Tonks talked of dedication, the privilege of being an artist, that to do a bad drawing was like living with a lie, and he proceeded to implant these ideals by ruthless and withering criticism. I remember once coming home and feeling like flinging myself under a train, and Stan telling me not to mind as he did it to everyone.

Methodology aside, many of the artists in this catalogue share common traits – an obsession with the minutiae of nature, an unbreakable attachment to landscape, an immersion in the narrative tradition, and an inability to resist humour and affection for the quirky and mundane.

To requests a copy of this catalogue please email anton@modernbritishartgallery.com.

Works Featured in this catalogue

SKU: 11311

Frank Brangwyn (1867 - 1956)

Beer Porters, Study for Lloyds Register of Shipping, circa 1910

£15,000.00

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SKU: 11274

Margaret Gere (1878 - 1965)

The White Cat, Isola San Giulio, Lake Orta, 1928
SKU: 11088

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)

A diagrammatic explanation of trenching or double digging

£1,750.00

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SKU: 11048

Evelyn Dunbar (1906 - 1960)

Studies of vignettes for Country Life, 1938
SKU: 10337

Frank Brangwyn (1867 - 1956)

Bricklayers, a study for Rebuilding Belgium, 1915

£6,350.00

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SKU: 8972

John Tunnard (1900 - 1971)

Celestial Light, circa 1950
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SKU: 6532

Allan Milner (1910 - 1984)

Magpie Exercise (F85), circa 1960
SKU: 1953

Evelyn Gibbs (1905 - 1991)

The Chapel, 1928

£2,750.00

SKU: 278

Sir Thomas Monnington (1902 - 1976)

Study for Winter, circa 1922

£12,000.00