postwar modern: new art in britain 1945-65

Postwar Modern delves into a diverse range of artistic forms, including painting, sculpture, architecture, ceramics, and photography. Its aim is to challenge the notion that Britain was culturally stagnant during this time, exploring a rich field of experimentation. The book features new texts by Jane Alison, Hilary Floe, Ben Highmore, Hammad Nassar, and Greg Salter, who examine celebrated artists like Francis Bacon, David Hockney, Lucian Freud, and Eduardo Paolozzi in conversation with lesser-known figures. Among these lesser-known artists are Francis Newton Souza, Avinash Chandra, and Robert Adams, who were highly regarded by contemporaries but overlooked in later histories, as well as Kim Lim, Anwar Jalal Shemza, and Franciszka Themerson, who are only now receiving recognition they deserve. The book explores shared preoccupations that are still relevant today, such as gender, class, race, and nationhood, as well as themes like the body, the bombsite, and the home. This is a period that resonates strongly with our current moment, as the UK emerges from a decade of austerity and confronts the challenges of post-pandemic reconstruction while grappling with fundamental questions about identity and values.

352 pages, 250 in color.