Lund Humphries 75th Anniversary Talk: Is there such a thing as British art?

Chaired by Tim Marlow, a panel of speakers including Iwona Blazwick (Director of Whitechapel Gallery), Emma Dexter (Director of Visual Arts at the British Council) and artists Nathan Coley and Yinka Shonibare MBE debate the question, ‘Is there such a thing as British art?’.

Lund Humphries has been publishing books on British art for the past 75 years. Led by the visionary Peter Gregory – Chair of Lund Humphries from 1945 to 1959, and also a co-founder of the ICA – it was an early pioneer of visual-arts publishing.

In the 1940s 'British art' was easily defined. Seven decades on, our concept of what constitutes 'Britishness' has become more fluid. But just as the contemporary perspective on Britishness has become more complex, we ask: what exactly is British art now? Is there an inherent, identifiable 'Britishness' in the art made in these islands today? Or is any notion of a culturally significant 'Britishness' now redundant?