DAVID BOYD HAYCOCK: A CRISIS OF BRILLIANCE – BOOK TALK

An Exclusive Talk for Members of the Ashmolean

For those attending in person, the talk is in the Museum's Headley Lecture Theatre

The online event is via Zoom

Tea, coffee and cake will be served from 3pm

With Dr David Boyd Haycock, art historian, author, curator and lecturer

Based on his bestselling book, A Crisis of Brilliance: Five Young British Artists and the Great War, David returns to the Ashmolean to explore the extraordinary story of five young artists’ interlocking lives and their artistic education.

David will trace the development of Stanley Spencer, Mark Gertler, CRW Nevinson, Paul Nash and Dora Carrington – all students at the Slade – during one of the most exciting periods in modern British art which culminated in the horror and drama of the First World War. 

In these years leading up to the First World War, the Slade School of Art in London was the leading establishment in England for teaching drawing and painting. Its students included some of the most important British artists of the first half of the 20th century, including David Bomberg, Dora Carrington, Mark Gertler, Paul Nash, C.R.W. Nevinson, William Roberts, Stanley Spencer and Edward Wadsworth. 

There are a number of works by these artists on display at the Ashmolean, including Gertler’s ‘Gilbert Cannan and his Mill’ and Bomberg’s ‘Procession’ – and many of their prints and drawings are available to view by appointment in the Print Room.

The book will be available at a Members' discounted price at the event.

The reading list can be downloaded here.

The talk will be recorded, and the recording will be distributed to ticketholders following the event.

BOOKING