Untitled sketch, Jankel Adler, c.1942–9, TGA 201218/7 (archive object)
3 rooms in Art Around the Building
Discover how mid-century émigré artists fleeing Nazi Europe transformed British art culture in a new Tate display
‘Never before in the history of art in England have so many artists of foreign nationality worked together on this island’, wrote the Czech art historian J.P. Hodin. He was describing the émigrés, most of them Jewish, who came to Britain in the 1930s and 40s, seeking refuge from the Nazis.
As well as artists, the new arrivals included art dealers, writers and teachers. Although often overlooked at the time, they made important contributions to artistic culture in Britain. Drawing upon material from Tate Library and Archive, this display tells some of their stories.
Highlights include rarely seen works by Oskar Kokoschka, Kurt Schwitters, Jankel Adler, Josef Herman, Marie-Louise von Motesiczky, Franciszka Themerson, and others.
