Event Images
- Artist
- Percy Wyndham Lewis
- Birth and death dates
- 1882 - 1957
- Active dates:
- [Blank]
(c) By kind permission of the Wyndham Lewis Memorial Trust (a
registered charity)
Wyndham Lewis is considered a major figure in British arts of the twentieth century. The Canadianborn painter and writer emerged as the leading young English Modernist of the time through his involvement in the foundation of the Rebel Art Centre in 1913, which led to the birth of Vorticist movement.
Vorticism captured the machine age and tried to portray movement in an image. In a Vorticist painting modern life is shown as an array of bold lines and harsh colours. Their only group exhibition was held in 1915 named 'New Living Abstraction' and in effect was Britain's response to the painting of the Italian Futurists. They were also inspired by the machine age and produced work which consisted of fragmented images.
Wyndham Lewis attended the Slade School of Art in the 1890s. The Slade was founded in 1871 through the will of Felix Slade who was a collector and antiquary. The school was in Bloomsbury in London where the tutors kept abreast of artistic developments abroad particularly French Impressionism. Tutors included Henry Tonks and Philip Wilson Steer who advocated realism. Many important artists passed through the Slade including Augustus John, Stanley Spencer, Christopher Nevinson and many others. For a young student it was the place to study and learn to draw.
As a member of the Camden Town Group, Wyndham Lewis was inspired by European modern art and led a rebellion against Roger Fry's dominance of the British art scene at the time. He founded the Rebel Arts Centre.
Researcher's comments
Artillery Action shows a fragmented landscape littered with guns and shell fire, portraying an image of power and machinery. It draws on Lewis's own experiences, the image is a snapshot in the middle of a battle; soldiers are sheltering from fire in the heat of action. Wyndham Lewis joined the Royal Artillery as a Bombardier during the First World War then later transferred to the War Artists' battalion and was promoted to an officer.
CP/TR 56
Sadler Bequest
