Archive Journeys: Bloomsbury Biographies: Roger Fry, modern art

Personal life | Fry's ideas | Fry and modern art | Fry as art critic

Fry and modern art

Roger Fry first met Clive and Vanessa Bell in 1910. They invited him to lecture at Vanessa's Friday Club, and introduced him to their artist friends. This gave him the opportunity to discuss contemporary art with like-minded people, for despite being deeply involved in the art world as a painter and academic, Fry found that his interest in modern French art distanced him from his colleagues.

Fry was a great influence on the development of artists within the group. Two exhibitions that he curated, Manet and the Post-Impressionists in 1910 and the Second Post-Impressionist Exhibition two years later, brought work by contemporary European artists to England.

The exhibitions rocked the London art establishment and had a great impact on the work of young British artists, including artists of the Bloomsbury circle. For many it was their first encounter with Post-Impressionist art.

Fry was hailed as a champion of modern art and he became a focal point for the avant-garde. In founding the Grafton Group in 1913, which took over from the Friday Club as an exhibiting society, Fry provided artists experimenting with post-impressionist style with the opportunity to exhibit their work. He also organised major exhibitions that brought modern works of art to the attention of the public, such as The New Movement in Art shown in London and Birmingham in 1917.

Exhibition Catalogue, Manet and the Post-Impressionists, Grafton Galleries, London, 1910

Exhibition Catalogue, Second Post-Impressionist Exhibition, Grafton Galleries, London, 1912

Daily Chronicle, 'Ideals of Post Impressionism' 5 Oct 1912