Comrades in Art
Artists Against Fascism 1933-1943
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Thames & Hudson Ltd
Published:4th Sep '25
Should be back in stock very soon
'A triumph' TLS
'Exemplary' Observer
Author and curator Andy Friend explores the legacy of the Artists International Association in a compelling group biography set against a background of resistance to the rise of fascism in Europe.
From the depths of the Slump in 1933 to the turning tide of war in 1943, the lives and work of British artists intersected with a world in crisis. A compelling group biography, Comrades in Art tells the fascinating, previously overlooked story of the political factions behind the development of modern art in Britain. It explores how, from student beginnings to the Popular Front through to war, an artists’ network opposing fascism generated work, ideas and actions that would help to shape the post-war world.
Featuring some of the best-known names in British and European art, such as Barbara Hepworth, Paul Nash, Edward Bawden, David Bomberg, Pablo Picasso, Oskar Kokoschka, Kurt Schwitters and Henry Moore, Comrades in Art is rooted in the lives of its diverse protagonists. Taking the first ten years of the Artists International Association as his point of focus, Andy Friend brings to life the captivating drama of the organisation as it rapidly grew to command the allegiance of a majority of Britain’s aspiring and established artists, offering new insights into art and culture during this decade of political extremes.
'The rise of the far right and authoritarianism in our own time makes this book vital reading for everybody concerned with visual culture' - Peter Kennard, Professor Emeritus of Political Art, Royal College of Art
'Friend’s book tells the story of the AIA dispassionately and with clarity: a triumph, given the subject’s organisational and moral complexities. It also reintroduces artists who, for reasons of those complexities, tend to have faded from history: Rowe and Angus both deserve to be better known than they are' - Charles Darwent, TLS
'Comrades in Art tells a largely unknown story. Friend, who has written acclaimed studies of the painters Ravilious and John Nash, has done an exemplary job' - Stephen Smith, Observer
'Compelling ... this thought-provoking, readable and beautifully illustrated book is a huge contribution to our understanding of the cultural landscape in the mid-20th century' - Ariane Bankes, The Spectator
'A thorough account of a turbulent period in history and art that deserves to be widely publicised and read ... this is absolutely a book for our times' - ArtBookReview
'A remarkable book … The rise of authoritarian attacks on free speech is clear, and the responsibility of artists appears ever more pressing. The story of the AIA presents a model of how to respond. ‘Escape from Escapism’, the title of a 1937 article by the painter Graham Bell in Left Review cited by Friend, might be a good motto for our time' - John-Paul Stonard, The Art Newspaper
ISBN: 9780500027417
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: 1380g
360 pages