Art for All Book Review

Art for All: British Socially Committed Art from the 1930s to the Cold War

by Christine Lindey

Pubs: Artery Publications

Price: Hdbck £45; Pbck £25

In her previous well-received book Art in the Cold War  Lindey discovered British artists largely ignored by the dominant art world, largely for political reasons. This omission became enshrined in subsequent art history much of which still implies that 1930s British socially committed art petered out until the renewed interest in art and politics by artists of the1960s.

This attractively-designed, extremely readable and informative book fills this  gap by reclaiming socially committed artists active in these two intervening decades. This time span also offers fascinating contrasts between the dominant contexts of patronage and aesthetics during the wartime social consensus as opposed to the individualism promoted in the first phase of the Cold War. Most mainstream critics either ignore  the political context of art production and fail to see a close relationship between politics and art. Christine Lindey demonstrates how the two are inextricably linked.

In her text, Lindey carefully traces how world events affected the thinking and actions of British artists. In the twenties and thirties, for example, many joined the Communist Party and a few, such as Cliff Rowe and Pearl Binder, spent time working in the Soviet Union. Some remained party members for life, some did not.  Some fought with the International Brigades in Spain, where, one of them, Felicia Browne was one of the first to be killed. Some had no direct political affiliation, but were happy to produce works for working class sponsors such as the trade unions.  Some were founder members of the Artists’ International, later the Artists’ International Association, an organisation whose foundation, expansion and decline paralleled the waning influence of Marxist and socialist ideas within the British art world during the Cold War.  This was further demonstrated by the attitude of the Arts Council.  Founded in 1946, it was warmly greeted by those artists who believed in the need for state sponsorship of the arts.  But when the Council quickly moved away from its initially stated  position of ‘The Best for the Most’ to that of ‘Few, but roses’ they swiftly became disillusioned by its essentially elitist approach.

    

That artists could organise and work together for political ends may seem astonishing to us today when international capital dominates the art market as never before.  The rediscovery of such concepts, and of the artists who believed in and worked for them, is one of the many delights of this book.

Twenty-nine artists are featured in this book. Keen to reach the masses and aware of the conservatism and escapism of mass taste, socialist artists varying from Peter Perí to Ghisha Koenig remained committed to an accessible art. This set them apart from the formal experimentation favoured by ‘high art’ canons of taste, as well as from the sugar-coated dream worlds of mass produced art prints and mass media imagery. In resistance to these formidably dominant High and Low art opponents, artists of conviction including Clive Branson, Priscilla Thornycroft and Ruskin Spear created unvarnished depictions of contemporary life. Sometimes overtly political, the works were more often humane assertions of the social importance of working people and their lives. The ‘modernism versus realism’ critical debate dominated both decades. That socially committed artists’ realism was ultimately a matter of content rather than of style is shown by contrasting the works with avant-garde and rear-guard ones; for example a comparison of the humanism of Josef Herman’s modernist portraits with the alienation of Lucian Freud’s realist ones and the idealised portraits in Vladimir Tretchikoff’s mass produced prints.

Marginalised artists are brought to the fore by discussing their diverse lives, aims and works in their cultural and socio-political contexts. Exploring the personal and political events which influenced key artists’ formative years explains how artists of different generations, gender, social class and national origin were politicised and came to share similar outlooks. While it was not unusual for artists to be broadly left-leaning, unlike their peers a few disparate artists such as the upper class Betty Rea, the working class George Fullard and the Hungarian political émigré Peter Perí put their work at the service of their political beliefs. Although activism brought many of the artists together they did not form a self-defined movement, it is their shared ideological commitment which links their works. A detailed identification and definition of recurring content in socially committed artists’ stylistically diverse works reveals a shared desire to promote social justice and respect for working class life. The content of their works and their theoretical debates relate to the continuing arguments on the left about art and propaganda and the relationship between art and politics. Some, like Spear and James Fitton fought from within the art establishment and became the enfants terribles of the Royal Academy while others such as Boswell, Paul Hogarth and Ken Sprague continued the 1930s socialist practice of working as illustrators, sometimes for left wing organisations. The relative lack of critical success of many of the artists highlights the restrictive effects on patronage and critical response of the dominant art world’s ideological assumptions. This is emphasised by the contrast between the greater assimilation of socially committed artists into the mainstream during the wartime consensus compared to their increased marginalisation during the Cold War.

In her preface, the artist and writer Lynn MacRitchie writes that ‘the book’s subject is new. It redefines art history by reclaiming a marginalised aspect of British art and by discussing it in the contexts of High and Low art. By avoiding jargon it is accessible to the general reader. The book  is timely, given the current revival of interest in socialism and socially committed art. Although it deals with little known artists some of whom are obscure, the book’s story has a larger resonance by showing that the artists’ relative obscurity was partly due to their politics. These courageous outsiders, largely consigned to obscurity by Cold War ideology resisted the formidable cultural power of dominant aesthetics. Their evocations of their era’s ambiances and preoccupations made a minor but important contribution to British art. Their works and stories deserve to be better known.’

  

I could not sum up  the importance of this book better than Simon Casimir Wilson does. He is the author of Holbein to Hockney: A History of British Art, former Tate curator, columnist for RA Magazine. He calls Christine Lindey ‘a doyenne of British art history and one of its most original, accessible and principled practitioners. In previous publications she has approached traditional art history in novel ways, as well as revealing the importance and fascination of previously neglected areas. Her thought and writing combine academic rigour with a rare lucidity. In Art for All she explores a rich vein of British art … As a historian of British art myself I found this book a revelation, not least, for example, of artists of the quality of Eva Frankfurther of whom, to my shame, I had never heard. An important contribution to the history of British art, this book, in its focus on a socially and politically aware practice that seeks a genuinely wide audience, seems particularly timely in this historical moment of rampant individualism and raging inequality.’ 

The upcoming nationwide Insiders/Outsiders Festival (March 2019-March 2020) will celebrate the contribution made to British culture by refugees from Nazi Europe whose work will be displayed in many of Britain’s prestigious art venues during the year. Christine Lindey’s book which features a number of such refugees from fascism, can be seen as pioneering and sets the tone for such an important ‘rediscovery’ of these artists.

Democracy in Africa – successes, failures and the struggle for political reform (one of a series: New Approaches to Africa)

Nic Cheeseman

Cambridge University Press

Pbck. £17.99

In the wake of the anti-colonial liberation movements that mushroomed in Africa from the 1960s onwards, it has been saddening and sobering to witness how almost all of the newly independent countries quickly devolved into authoritarian or military regimes. This book is an attempt to look at how and why that has happened.

            While Cheeseman gives a useful and informative overview of the changes that have taken place since independence for many African nations, he is reticent when it comes to offering a deeper analysis of why the attempts to establish effective democracy have largely failed.

            The former colonial nations, notably Britain, Belgium, Portugal and France simply drew arbitrary borders to coincide with their own commercial interests but with no justification in terms of ethnic, tribal or cultural logic. This in itself laid the foundation for future incompatibility and strife. The post-colonial rush by Western nations to exploit the recently discovered wealth in raw materials has also compounded the stifling of democracy and encouraged widespread corruption.

            Where Cheeseman is particularly superficial is in his treatment of the impact of Western and Soviet policies on Africa. He appears to suggest an equivalence in their policies; that both simply played out their ideological battles on the African continent. This is a travesty of the truth. One doesn’t have to be a defender of, or apologist for, the Soviet Union to recognise that it, together with the German Democratic Republic and other Eastern bloc countries, gave unstinting support, right from the outset, to anti-colonial and liberation movements. At that time there was little prospect of reward in terms of access to raw materials or other commercial advantage. Support was given largely for ideological reasons. On the other hand, the West – largely the USA – supported the most reactionary elements in Africa and made concerted efforts to destroy any burgeoning liberation movements which were seen as precursors of a communist take-over of Africa. Not to recognise this fundamental difference and its impact on post colonial development is to ignore a central factor that determined the processes that unfolded. It should also be noted that Western interference has continued long after the demise of the East European socialist world. The author also ignores the more recent but highly significant impact of China on Africa.

In his conclusion he examines African democratic choices as if these countries existed in a global vacuum and are largely uninfluenced by determining economic factors.

            With these important caveats, Cheeseman’s book is nevertheless a useful and important contribution to our understanding of  post colonial African developments.

About Women – photographs by Dorothy Bohm

Dewi lewis Publishing

Hdbck £30.00

Dorothy Bohm, came to Britain from Lithuania as a 15 year-old refugee from Nazi persecution. After studying photography in Manchester, then opening her own portrait studio, she went on to become one of Britain’s leading photographers and one of the founders and then associate director of the London Photographers’ Gallery.

This is a powerful selection of her photographs only of women, taken around the world – the earlier ones in black and white and then colour. She once described her work thus: The photograph fulfils my deep need to stop things from disappearing. It makes transience less painful and retains some of the special magic, which I have looked for and found. I have tried to create order out of chaos, to find stability in flux and beauty in the most unlikely places.’ What better statement of intent could there be for a true artist? And this selection demonstrates perfectly that outlook.

As an emigre I always wanted to belong, yet I felt I had to use my eyes as an outsider’, she wrote. In this collection we have photos from our own doorstep in London’s Soho and East End to Moscow in Soviet times, to the USA, Mexico, Spain and France. And the large format of the book does full justice to Bohm’s prints. It contains many memorable images of women carefully observed in their everyday lives, working, looking after children, shopping and, when they have the time, even relaxing. She is as adept using black and white or colour, in the latter loving the contrast of strong primary colours to frame the women she chooses to portray. Many of her black and white photos are reminiscent of photographers like Cartier Bresson, Georg Kertesz or Bill Brandt, but they are not imitations but always reflect Bohm’s own vision. A photography book to cherish and peruse at leisure for uplift, humour, aesthetic pleasure and hope.

            Amanda Hopkinson in her excellent introduction describes Bohm’s work succinctly: ‘she has consistently kept her eye on women, friendship and solitude; family and hard work; realism and fantasy; the effects of time and place on women’s lives are there for us all to see. In this book Dorothy reveals what we might not otherwise observe and, in sharing her vision, we look again’.  I couldn’t sum it up any better.

The Kurdish PKK - a history of oppression and struggle

The PKK – coming down from the mountains (part of the series: Rebels)

by Paul White

Pubs. Zed Books

Pbck. £12.99

The Kurds are one of the largest national groups in the world without a country of their own – around 35-40 million people. Their language, culture and history, goes back centuries and is distinct from those of the middle-eastern states in which the Kurdish people are based, but their existence as a separate national group has been continually denied. They straddle Iran, Turkey, Syria and Iraq, but the greatest number of Kurds live in south-eastern Turkey and have been demeaningly described by successive Turkish administrations as ‘Mountain Turks’.

Paul White describes the rise of the progressive nationalist liberation movement, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) within a historical context. He describes the transformation of small, often local movements of peasants and ‘social rebels’ into a modern Kurdish liberation organization, the PKK. It emerged as a modern revolutionary nationalist force with a burgeoning diplomatic presence.

The ongoing struggle between Kurdish nationalists and the Turkish administration has been bloody and cost thousands of lives, but both sides appeared to recognise that force alone would not solve their problems. As a peaceful gesture, most of the PKK’s forces were recently withdrawn from Turkey to the Qandil mountain region of Iraq.

Despite waging that long and bloody armed struggle, the PKK recently began contemplating an end to the armed struggle on Turkish soil and has been actively seeking a political solution. Originally the PKK advocated nothing less than full independence for a united greater Kurdish state, but now appears prepared to accept some form of autonomy and has linked this with the wider democratic struggle in Turkey as a whole. However the capture of its leader Abdullah Öcalan put that process on hold. He was kidnapped and handed over to Turkish forces as a result of a conspiracy between Greek security services, Mossad, the CIA and the Turkish government.

The consequences of the Iraq war had a significant impact on Kurdish aspirations. The conflict and US occupation left the Iraqi Kurdish region virtually autonomous and has allowed its people to develop its own forms of governance. This, in turn, has impacted on Kurdish aspirations and given the Kurds a new sense of identity and hope for a truly united nation.

The notorious underdevelopment of Turkey’s Kurdish region – it is the poorest region of the country and has enjoyed little to no investment. Its population has been under military occupation for decades and these factors have certainly not helped in bringing about a solution to the Kurdish question. While many Kurds remain sceptical and suspicious of Turkey’s long-term strategy, there is no doubt that the ideology of the PKK has had a deep impact on Turkey’s politics itself.

The Turkish state itself, was forced into a compromise on the Kurdish question, and only a year ago appeared ready to negotiate with Öcalan, granting belated but limited recognition of the Kurdish language and even allowed a pro-Kurdish party – the socialist and anti-capitalist, People’s Democratic Party (HDP) – to take part in the most recent national elections. This party was able to attract many liberal and left voters to overcome the minimum threshold for representation and win 13% of the vote. The party linked the issue of the Kurdish people in Turkey with that of democracy in the country as a whole. It was supported indirectly by the PKK. Its success prevented Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) winning a majority for the first time since 2002. It also stymied Erdogan’s aim of shifting power from parliament to the president.

He was, though, was determined to counter that electoral result, so began a strategy of renewed military attacks on PKK bases in Qandil in the hope of uniting nationalist forces around his flag. He has granted the US use of the Erlginci military base in exchange for a blank cheque to attack the PKK.

            The United States signed a new military agreement with Turkey at the expense of the Kurds: In return for use of Incirlik Air Base on the Syrian border, it has betrayed the Syrian Kurds who have so far been its most effective ally against Islamic State. In return for the deal, the US gained military cooperation from Turkey, but it soon became clear that Ankara’s real target was the Kurds in Turkey, Syria and Iraq. Action against Isis was an afterthought, and was hit by only three Turkish airstrikes, compared to around 300 against PKK bases. By strongly playing the Turkish nationalist and anti-Kurdish card, he hopes to win back that majority in a second election on 1 November.

White’s book is very useful for anyone who wishes to understand more about Kurdish nationalist aspiration and the role of the PKK.