Lithographic Fever | Sworders Sponsors Exhibition at The Fry

In 1950, a group of Great Bardfield artists, led by Michael Rothenstein, called upon the Arts Council for financial support to enable them to publish prints celebrating the Festival of Britain. Their plea was rejected by the Art Council’s Director, Philip James, as he feared there were too many prints being published and the country was suffering an outbreak of ‘lithograph fever’.

Whilst many consider the years that followed a lean time for British Printmaking, Philip James saw the opposite effect, with colour lithography becoming a fashionable and respected medium. Bold prints in large formats suited modern tastes, and with production costs low, lithography was celebrated as an art for the people.

^{Bernard Cheese ­– Salmon Nets Drying, 1959, lithograph}

This exhibition reignites the excitement that surrounded the mid-century boom in prints and demonstrates how the artists of North West Essex were pivotal to this national phenomenon.

Over thirty works have been assembled from national collections and from the holdings of the Fry Art Gallery. They include prints made for the Festival of Britain, the Coronation, and for a new age of prosperity as the country headed towards the swinging Sixties.

The Fry Art Gallery on Castle Street is currently closed to the public whilst a new extension is being built. During this time, exhibitions are being held nearby at - 

The Fry Art Gallery Too | 9b Museum St | Saffron Walden | CB10 1BN

Sworders is planning for a private view of the exhibition in September with dates to be confirmed in due course.

For more information, please contact the Fry Art Gallery | 01799 520679 | info@fryartgallery.org | www.fryartgallery.org