Modernism and its alternatives in 20th-century British art

People tend to see visual art in 20th-century Britain as a succession of modernist styles, from Vorticism and Bloomsbury, in the early years, to the triumph of British Pop Art in the 1960s. But other artists responded differently to the modern world. Lesser-known but exciting work like the Grosvenor School linocuts, the paintings of the ‘Pitmen Painters’ of the Ashington Group and the radical Artists International Association show how art could be popular, political, and engage with a variety of traditions. We will consider the wide range of 20th-century British artists and their work, sharpening our critical approach to modern art and to the concepts of movement, progress and the avant-garde.