The Morris Dancer & The Rat Catcher

Modern British Figure Paintings from the Collection

Artists have always been drawn to the figure as a means of expressing contemporary life, emotions and feelings. Southampton City Art Gallery is fortunate to have some of the finest holdings of modern British Art outside of London, which includes outstanding examples of figure painting by some of the great artists of the last century.

The exhibition takes its title from two works ‘The Morris Dancer’ by William Nicholson and ‘The Rat Catcher’ by Gilbert Spencer and includes other fine examples of figurative painting by Malcolm Drummond, Stanley Spencer, Matthew Smith, Mark Gertler and Henri Gaudier-Brzeska. It has been curated by Jonathan Clark and Sandy Mallet of Jonathan Clark Fine Art, who are generously funding a publication that will focus on different elements within the collection.

Exhibition runs from 17 February to 13 May 2017.

Image credit: The Rat Catcher, 1922, Gilbert Spencer © Estate of Gilbert Spencer. All Rights Reserved, DACS 2017