Artists of the East London Group: From Bow to Biennale

The first study of the East London Group, telling the remarkable story of how a group of untrained London artists became an art world sensation in the interwar years.Although the East London Group achieved commercial success and huge media coverage in the late 1920s and early 1930s, its story is relatively unknown today. Its artists’ atmospheric paintings depicting scenes from everyday life, their London surroundings, and scenes from further afield are now highly sought after. Its artists achieved shows at the Whitechapel Gallery, Tate Gallery, and around the UK. Then, amazingly, two of them reached the dizzying heights of the Venice Biennale in 1936.This fascinating book—first published in 2012 but expanded and updated to cover more of the group’s work—is based on correspondence and interviews with the last group members plus primary and secondary archival research over many years. It includes extensive artist biographies plus chapters covering the group members’ involvement in film, the stage, and poster work, alongside stories of their mentor John Cooper’s mosaic revival and his wife Phyllis Bray’s huge murals for the New People’s Palace in Mile End Road, London.Richly illustrated with reproductions of the artists’ glorious paintings, the group’s story is examined in Artists of the East London Group in new captivating detail, with biographies of all the artists and a list showing where you can see their paintings today. Read more