Seven and Five Society
The Seven and Five Society was an art group of seven painters and five sculptors created in 1919 and based in London.
The group was originally intended to encompass traditional, conservative artistic sensibilities. The first exhibition catalogue said, "[we] feel that there has of late been too much pioneering along too many lines in altogether too much of a hurry." Abstract artist Ben Nicholson joined in 1924, followed by others such as Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth, and changed the society into a modernistic one and expelled the non-modernist artists. In 1935, the group was renamed the Seven and Five Abstract Group. At the Zwemmer Gallery in Charing Cross Road, London, they staged the first exhibition of entirely abstract works in Britain.[1]
Name
The first intention of the group was to include seven painters and five sculptors (‘VII and V’). This became ‘Seven & Five’ and, after a suggestion by Nicholson, simply '7 & 5'.[2]
Exhibitions
- 12 Apr.–1 May 1920: Walker Art Gallery
- 1–30 Jun. 1921: Gieves Gallery
- 20 Nov.–9 Dec. 1922: Walker Gallery
- 26 Nov.–22 Dec. 1923: Forbes and Paterson
- 4–20 Dec. 1924: Paterson's
- 2–23 Jan. 1926: The Beaux Arts Gallery
- 4–22 Jan. 1927: The Beaux Arts Gallery
- 14 Feb.–6 Mar. 1928: The Beaux Arts Gallery
- 7–28 Mar. 1929: Arthur Tooth & Sons
- Jan. 1931: Leicester Galleries
- Feb. 1932: Leicester Galleries
- Feb. 1933: Leicester Galleries
- Mar. 1934: Leicester Galleries
- 2-22 Oct. 1935: Zwemmer
Members
References
- "Seven and Five Society", Tate
- Causey 2008.
- "Business papers of the 7 & 5 Society". archiveshub.ac.uk. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
Further reading
- Glazebrook, M. (1980). "Introduction". The Seven and Five Society, 1920–35 [exhibition catalogue Parkin Gallery, London, 9 January – 10 February 1980 and regional tour, 1979–80]
- Harrison, Charles (1994) [1981]. English Art and Modernism : 1900-1939 (2nd ed.). New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0300059861.
- Bowness, Alan (1973). Ivon Hitchens. Introductory essay by T. G. Rosenthal. London: Lund Humphries. ISBN 978-0853313540.
- Lewison, Jeremy (1993). Ben Nicholson (Repr. with corrections. ed.). London: Tate Gallery. ISBN 978-1854371300.
- Causey, Andrew (May 2008). "Seven & Five Society (active 1919–1935)". Oxford DNB. Retrieved 18 July 2020.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- The Fine Art Society (2014). The Seven and Five Society 1920–1935. London: The Fine Art Society. ISBN 978-1907052439