The hills and vales of Sussex inspired a range of radical artists in the first half of the 20th century: Paul Nash’s desolate landscapes, Henry Moore’s elemental sculptures, Edward Burra’s eerie watercolours and the paintings made by Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant in Charleston all owe much to the environment in which they were created. Sussex provided a respite from the industrialism of London and the county’s influence on British modernist art is well recognised – an exhibition at Two Temple Place made the argument in 2017. This new show, which is based on Hope Wolf’s recent book Sussex Modernism, brings the art back home, stretching back to the 19th century and encompassing contemporary works to position Sussex as a site of continuous artistic inspiration (until 28 September). Perhaps the most striking work on display is Ivon Hitchens’s Day’s Rest, Day’s Work (1960), a seven-metre-wide mural that captures the rhythms of labour amid the Sussex landscape, unveiled in public for the first time in decades.
Find out more from the Towner’s website.
Preview below | View Apollo’s Art Diary
