ICA History: 1940s-1950s
The ICA’s first exhibition was entitled 40 years of Modern Art: A Selection from British Collections. It was held in the basement of the Academy Cinema in Oxford Street, London in an attempt to move away from art exhibition conventions. This show was closely followed by 40,000 years of Modern Art which sought to bring an international and ethnically diverse context to modern art – a mission which the ICA has continued to the present day.
The 1950s exhibition programme was dominated by the Independent Group, which included Richard Hamilton, Nigel Henderson, Eduardo Paolozzi, William Turnbull and Lawrence Alloway. They held several exhibitions at the ICA’s Dover Street premises, including Growth and Form, On Man and Machine and An Exhibit, which disseminated the ideas behind British Pop Art.
The ICA began to show films from 1950 onwards, initially choosing them through a members’ vote. In 1955 the pioneering American director Kenneth Anger presented a selection of his films, the first time they had been seen in the UK.
Another UK first was a programme of Musique Concrète works, presented in 1953. The Music Section of the ICA was very active in presenting high Modernist classical works throughout this period, culminating with Stravinsky’s 75th Birthday celebrations in 1956-1957.
Launched September 2007