London's new scene: art and culture in the 1960s

Abstract

In the 1960s, London became a vibrant hub of artistic production. Postwar reconstruction, jet air travel, television arts programs, new color supplements, a generation of young artists, dealers, and curators, the influx of international film companies, the projection of "creative Britain" as a national brand-all nurtured and promoted the emergence of London as "a new capital of art." Extensively illustrated and researched, this book offers an unprecedented, rich account of the social field that constituted the lively London scene of the 1960s. In clear, fluent prose, Tickner presents an innovative sequence of critical case studies, each of which explores a particular institution or event in the cultural life of London between 1962 and 1968. The result is a kaleidoscopic view of an exuberant decade in the history of British art.

Contents

Prologue: London in the 1960s : Art worlds and art scenes -- 1962: Pop goes the easel : 'All the things we love and relish' -- 1963: The Kasmin Gallery : 'A very heroic, grand and glamorous space' -- 1964: 'A big year in modern art' : New Generation: 1964 ; Painting & sculpture of a decade: '54-'64 -- 1965: Private view : The lively world of British art -- 1966: Antonioni's Blow-up : The cult of the photogenes -- 1967: Export Britain : Art, mass culture and the export trade -- 1968: Art school revolution : The Harnsey Affair -- Epilogue: When attitudes became form.