Whilst many British artists in this period were captivated by French impressionism and post-impressionism, a number of British artists were inspired by the ideas and symbolism of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood working in the mid-19th century. Artists, like Frederick Cayley Robinson, used Pre-Raphaelite imagery such as the damsel and a knight on horseback in this work to explore modern ideas. Here, the artist’s experimental visual combinations produce a work which grapples with issues of psychology and spiritualism, creating an ambiguous image that cannot be read or understood in conventional terms. The painting has an unsettling atmosphere that leaves the viewer with a sense of mystery and wonder.

Lucy Kemp-Welch is known as one of the most consummate painters of horses in modern British art. It is the labouring horses, not the workmen, which take center stage in this work. Many of her paintings reflect the artist’s desire to highlight the importance of horses as their significance dwindled in an increasingly industrialised Britain. The dynamic colour and movement in this work is the result of Kemp-Welch’s studies of horses from life, sometimes from horseback herself. Her work owes something to the work of the French Impressionists, and she often painted ‘en plein air’ (outside of the studio).

Winifred Nicholson considered flowers to be the perfect subject to encapsulate modern ideas about painting with their unruly bursts of colour and naturally abstract, uncontrollable geometry. Nicholson often depicted bunches of flowers in the foreground of her work, placing them on windowsills and tables, and using their colour to activate their surroundings, making the image sing. Here, she uses the flower bed in the same way, enlivening the Cornish landscape beyond. Nicholson considered flowers to be inspirational.
However, for some, flowers were not seen as a sufficiently modern subject. It is only recently that the pioneering nature of Nicholson’s work has been recognised.

Terry Frost was a powerful figure in the British abstract art movement. Frost grew up in Leamington and held a number of jobs around the town. His experiences in the Second World War encouraged him to pursue art professionally. He trained at Camberwell School of Art and moved to Cornwall to join the group of artists living and working in St Ives. He loved the vibrant colours of the Cornish landscape and, like many artists in the area, was inspired by the light of the region. Whilst his bright and colourful works are mainly abstract, they are often suggestive of the boats and coastline of Cornwall. LSAG&M has significant holdings of Frost’s work including paintings, prints, sculpture and ceramics.

The dynamic blocks of vibrant colour and loose brushstrokes of this painting seek to inspire an emotional, imaginative response in the viewer. Here, Weinberger abstracts a wintry view of Hampstead Heath, capturing how the light undulates across the snowy landscape, creating sculptural forms. Weinberger has often been overlooked as an artist due to his continued commitment to the painting traditions of the early twentieth century, such as impressionism, post-impressionism and fauvism. His work was often seen as contrary to the growing post-war interest in conceptual art.