The Birmingham Artists Committee was an English artist collective that organised exhibitions of painting and sculpture in Birmingham between 1947 and 1952. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland See also Art colony; Artist cooperative; Artist-run initiative “Collective” is a term taken over from usages in the ecclesiastical Painting (pān'tīng in Art, is the practice of applying Color to a Surface (support base such as e Birmingham ( ˈbɜːmɪŋəm Ber -ming-um [1]
The committee was organised by the art critic Robert Melville and artists including Oscar Mellor and Trevor Denning[2] to break the stranglehold of the conservative Royal Birmingham Society of Artists on the exhibition of work by living artists in the city. Robert Melville ( December 31 1905 - March 1986 was an English Art critic and Journalist. Oscar Mellor ( 7 June 1921 - 2005 was an English surrealist Artist and publisher of Poetry. Trevor Denning RBSA (born 1923) is an English Artist, Sculptor, Writer, and former art teacher. The Royal Birmingham Society of Artists or RBSA is a Learned society of Artists and an Art gallery based in the Jewellery Quarter [3]
Its exhibitions were an important post-war outlet for the Birmingham Surrealists, showing the work of Conroy Maddox, John Melville, Emmy Bridgwater and the young Desmond Morris. Birmingham Surrealists were an informal grouping of artists and intellectuals associated with the Surrealist movement in art based in Birmingham, England Conroy Maddox ( 27 December 1912 &ndash 14 January 2005) was an English Surrealist painter, collagist John Melville ( August 25 1902 - December 8 1986) was an English surrealist artist described by Michel Remy in his book Emma Frith Bridgwater ( November 10 1906 - March 13 1999) known as Emmy Bridgwater, was an English Artist and For the Australian rugby league footballer coach and administrator see Des Morris Desmond John Morris (born 24 January 1928 Other notable artists represented included CoBrA member William Gear and the sculptor Gordon Herickx. COBRA (or CoBrA) was a European Avant-garde movement active from 1949 to 1952. William Gear (1915-1997 was a painter, born on 2 August 1915 in Methil in the south-east of Fife, Scotland. Gordon Herickx (1900–1953 was an English sculptor. Born in Birmingham, Herickx won a scholarship in 1914 to study under William Bloye
Although there was no organisational link, The Birmingham Artists Committee was acknowledged as a catalyst by the artists who founded the Ikon Gallery in 1964. The Ikon Gallery ( is an English gallery of Contemporary art, located in Brindleyplace, Birmingham. [4]
References
- ^ Stevenson, Diana (2004). "Interview - Trevor Denning", in Watkins, Jonathan; Stevenson, Diana: Some of the best things in life happen accidentally: the beginning of Ikon. Birmingham: Ikon Gallery, 113. ISBN 1904864023.
- ^ Levy, Silvano (2003). "Birmingham Years 1933-1956", The Scandalous Eye: The Surrealism of Conroy Maddox. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 96. ISBN 0853235597. Retrieved on 2008-03-08. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 1618 - Johannes Kepler discovers the third law of planetary motion.
- ^ Denning, Trevor [1951-10-22] (2001). Trevor Denning RBSA (born 1923) is an English Artist, Sculptor, Writer, and former art teacher. Year 1951 ( MCMLI) was a Common year starting on Monday. Events of 1951 January Events 202 BC - Hannibal Barca, leader of the Carthaginians, is defeated by the Roman legions under Scipio Africanus "Birmingham Artists Committee", in Sidey, Tessa: Surrealism in Birmingham 1935-1954. Birmingham: Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, 86. Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery (BM&AG ( is an art gallery in Birmingham, England. ISBN 0709302355. “Our purpose since the committee's formation in 1947 has been to exhibit the works of what we consider to be the best local artists. If any bias is shown at all it is in favour of those artists whose work is otherwise denied a public showing because of its failure to conform to the somewhat conservative standards of the older established societies here - in brief, the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists and its offshoots. ”
- ^ Watkins, Jonathan (2004). "Some of the best things in life happen accidentally", in Watkins, Jonathan; Stevenson, Diana: Some of the best things in life happen accidentally: the beginning of Ikon. Birmingham: Ikon Gallery, 36-38. ISBN 1904864023.