In 1944, the primary substantial monograph of the British sculptor Henry Moore was printed by Lund Humphries. Produced beneath wartime situations, Henry Moore: Sculpture and Drawings was a exceptional achievement, and its success led to subsequent books on modern British artists, together with Ben Nicholson, Barbara Hepworth and Paul Nash. The driving pressure behind these bold publications was Peter Gregory (1887-1959), director and later chairman of Lund Humphries, who shunned the limelight, preferring anonymity. But, as Valerie Holman reveals on this impeccably researched e book, the shadowy determine who described himself merely as “a businessman” was extremely influential within the British artwork world: a buddy and supporter of artists, architects and writers, an assiduous writer, and integral to the event of a number of key arts organisations.
Gregory believed that for a society to flourish it was important to nurture the humanities
Gregory believed that for a society to flourish it was important to nurture the humanities. Throughout 12 concise chapters, masking each his skilled actions and private friendships, Holman examines the a number of methods wherein he pursued that goal. Born to a well-to-do household, Gregory was raised in Edinburgh then Bradford, the place he developed an appreciation for artwork and poetry. On leaving faculty in 1907 he joined the main Bradford printing and publishing agency Percy Lund, Humphries & Co. Ltd, being promoted to publishing supervisor in 1911 after which co-director with Eric Humphries in 1919. Working between the agency’s London and Yorkshire workplaces, he promoted good design, excellence in printing and an surroundings wherein artists and designers thrived.
In 1932, Lund Humphries’s London workplace moved to 12 Bedford Sq., the place Gregory staged exhibitions by notable figures akin to Man Ray, Jan Tschichold and the agency’s design guide Edward McKnight Kauffer. When struggle arrived, he was seconded to the Ministry of Info as a press censor earlier than changing into secretary of the Struggle Artists’ Advisory Committee the place, alongside Kenneth Clark, he commissioned works of struggle artwork. Renewing his concentrate on publishing after the struggle, he overcame the challenges of austerity to supply quite a few high-quality monographs that solidified his conviction that dwelling artists deserved the identical severe remedy because the Previous Masters.
Artists’ go-to writer
Gregory supported many British artists, and his exacting requirements and skill to empathise with them made him their go-to writer. A number of works from his assortment are amongst this e book’s plentiful illustrations, together with Moore’s marble Half-Determine (1932), which turned his first sculpture exhibited in a London public gallery when Gregory loaned it to the Tate in 1937. He additionally commissioned works, together with Patrick Heron’s Horizontal Stripe Portray (1957-8), an unlimited summary composition of horizontal bands conceived for the reception space of 12 Bedford Sq. and subsequently bought by the Tate. He additionally supported artists by establishing the modern Gregory Fellowships on the College of Leeds (1950-80), which for 30 years supplied painters, sculptors, poets and infrequently musicians with the time and house wherein to develop their work.
A hanging facet of Gregory’s profession is the sheer variety of arts organisations with which he was related. In 1943 he was appointed chairman of the nascent Design Analysis Unit, well-known for its company designs. He served on the manager committee of the Up to date Artwork Society, advising on acquisitions (1947-58), sat on the Visible Arts panel of the Arts Council of Nice Britain (1954-56) and, most expensive to his coronary heart, performed a big position in establishing the Institute of Up to date Arts in 1946, serving as honorary treasurer. As its director Dorothy Morland famous, he was “at all times there when wanted, tactfully providing concepts, contacts, monetary help and a relaxing presence”.
Holman has evidently spent hours poring over the archives, however who, actually, was Peter Gregory? It’s a query solely answered partially by this e book, which is much less a biography and extra a marvellous cultural historical past seen by means of one man’s life and work. Because the creator concedes, when it got here to Gregory’s private life her sources had been patchy: his diaries cowl a restricted interval and his correspondence is inconsistent. As a substitute of a rounded image, we have now “a composite, if sketchy, portrait”. The place this examine excels is in illuminating Gregory’s extraordinary legacy. Remembered primarily as a writer, he’s revealed right here as one of many twentieth century’s most devoted champions of up to date artwork and design. As Moore as soon as stated, “There are few males who’ve achieved a lot, so modestly for younger dwelling artists.”
• Valerie Holman, Peter Gregory: Writer and Patron of Fashionable British Artists, Lund Humphries, 160pp, 16 color & 244 b/w illustrations, £35 (hb), printed 1 October 2024
• David Trigg is an impartial author, critic and artwork historian. He’s the creator of Cash in Artwork (HENI, 2024)
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