JOHN CECIL STEPHENSON
2012-02-27Stephenson was one of the core modernists of the 1930’s; indeed Herbert Read said that “he was one of the earliest artists in this country to develop a completely abstract style”.
‘Pioneer of Abstraction’ will be a survey of John Cecil Stephenson’s work between 1933 and 1939 covering his path from figurative painting to abstraction.
Born in Bishop Auckland in 1889 he won a scholarship to Leeds School of Art and later attended the Royal College of Art in London. On graduating he moved to Mall Studios, Hampstead where his neighbours and immediate circle included Ben Nicholson, Barbara Hepworth, Piet Mondrian, Naum Gabo, Henry Moore and the art critic Herbert Read.
The exhibition will be accompanied by a series of lectures exploring subjects including Constructivism, Modernism and British Art in the interwar period, by art historians, curators and academics.
Opposite – Painting II, 1937
Exhibition runs through to April 29th, 2012
DLI Museum and Durham Art Gallery
Aykley Heads
Durham
DH1 5TU
