20th Century British and Irish Art

⋅ Frances Hodgkins ⋅ Jack Yeats ⋅ Sir William Nicholson ⋅ Paul Henry ⋅ Augustus John ⋅ Matthew Smith ⋅ Wyndham Lewis ⋅ Duncan Grant ⋅ Laurence Lowry ⋅ Paul Nash ⋅ Christopher Nevinson ⋅ Edward Wadsworth ⋅ Cedric Morris ⋅ David Bomberg ⋅ Leon Underwood ⋅ Bernard Meninsky ⋅ Stanley Spencer ⋅ Gilbert Spencer ⋅ John Nash ⋅ Winifred Nicholson ⋅ Ivon Hitchens ⋅ Ben Nicholson ⋅ William Roberts ⋅ David Jones ⋅ Jankel Adler ⋅ Edward Wolfe ⋅ William Gillies ⋅ Edward Ardizzone ⋅ Fred Uhlman ⋅ Norah McGuinness ⋅ Ceri Richards ⋅ Edward Bawden ⋅ Richard Eurich ⋅ Thomas Hennell ⋅ Graham Sutherland ⋅ John Piper ⋅ William McTaggart ⋅ Edward Burra ⋅ Tristram Hillier ⋅ John Aldridge ⋅ Gerald Wilde ⋅ John Luke ⋅ Cecil Collins ⋅ William Coldstream ⋅ Josef Herman ⋅ Victor Pasmore ⋅ Michael Rothenstein ⋅ Carel Weight ⋅ Francis Bacon ⋅ Rodrigo Moynihan ⋅ Julian Trevelyan ⋅ Colin Middleton ⋅ Roger Hilton ⋅ Keith Vaughan ⋅ Robert MacBryde ⋅ William Scott ⋅ Robert Colquhoun ⋅ William Gear ⋅ Patrick Hennessy ⋅ Kenneth Rowntree ⋅ Bryan Wynter ⋅ Louis le Brocquy ⋅ Gerard Dillon ⋅ George Campbell ⋅ John Minton ⋅ Kyffin Williams ⋅ Peter Lanyon ⋅ Prunella Clough ⋅ Alan Davie ⋅ Patrick Heron ⋅ Daniel O’Neill ⋅ Michael Ayrton ⋅ Lucian Freud ⋅ John Craxton ⋅

I am an active writer and commentator on art, and art history.

My particular passion lies in British and Irish artists of the mid-20th century. Having started as a collector, my fascination led on to research and writing.

A City lawyer by profession and a historian by training, I seek to bring to bear these disciplines in my analysis. I have written extensively in The British Art Journal, reviewing exhibitions and books, with some longer articles involving original research. This website reproduces many of the reviews, as well as summaries of the longer articles.

My first book, British and Irish Art 1945-1951 From War to Festival, was published in 2010, and I am currently working on my next book, a biography of Peter Watson, as well as other projects, including a commission for the Royal Academy.

British and Irish Art 1945-1951: From War to Festival

Published in 2010, this book radically re-examines a crucial period of modern British and Irish art, from a historical viewpoint.

By studying the intricate mechanisms whereby artists turned oil on canvas into money – or not – the book explains how artists’ reputations were made or broken. Individual artists discussed include Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud, Graham Sutherland, Gerard Dillon, Robert Colquhoun, Paul Nash and many more.

To purchase or inquire, CLICK for Paul Holberton (publishers)