Art in Britain: Constable to Henry Moore

Weekly series of lectures

Join us in person or watch online

How did painters and sculptors as diverse as Constable, Turner, Millais, Hepworth and Henry Moore perceive and reflect the immense social, technological and cultural transitions through which they were living, transitions which together paved the way to the world in which we live today? This lecture series will chart the broad history of painting and sculpture in Britain, from the Industrial Revolution to the 1930s.

You can register for individual lectures, see list below, or you can register for the entire series. (Booking the complete series offers a reduced rate compared to booking lectures individually.)

Please note: enrolments for the complete series will close at 23:59 UTC on 19 January 2025. Enrolments for each individual lecture will close a couple of days before each lecture.

Overview

The period of British history which connects John Constable to Henry Moore was one which bore witness to immense and epoch-making changes. Britain experienced the collective social upheaval of rapid industrialisation and urbanization, as well as suffering the trauma of mechanised warfare in the First World War, and the looming threat of ‘total war’ during the 1930s.

This lecture series will explore the many ways in which this tumultuous and revolutionary period found expression in the visual arts produced in Britain during this time. It will include the work of seminal artists such as Constable, Turner, Millais, Rossetti, Sickert, Wyndham Lewis, John Nash, Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore. The lectures will feature significant artistic movements such as the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, the Vorticists, and the Modernists. Historical themes will include the impact of industrialisation, the rise of the avant-garde, the advent of Modernism, and the threat and eventual experience of industrialised mass warfare.

About the lecturers

Dr Jan Cox was awarded a PhD from the University of Leeds, where he specialised in 19th-century Nordic Art. He shares his interests between this topic and British art of the early 20th century. Jan has lectured extensively throughout Britain, in addition to addressing conferences in Copenhagen, Montreal, Rome and Oslo.

Dr David Morgan has taught art and architectural history for the Department since 2004. He has also taught courses for Birkbeck College, University of London, and for the WEA. His recent publications have centred upon the history of British visual satire.