Roger Fry, the Omega Workshop and the 1910 Artquake

Roger Fry was one of the most influential figures in twentieth-century British art. A member of the Bloomsbury Group, he curated the groundbreaking exhibition ‘Manet and the Post-Impressionists.’ Featuring work by Gauguin, Picasso, Matisse, Cézanne and Van Gogh, the ‘“artquake” of 1910’ transformed perceptions of art in Britain forever. Intent on making the British public more attentive to beauty, in 1912 he founded the Omega Workshops, employing young artists to produce highly original household goods for the middle and upper classes. Yet he was also a divisive figure – ‘a shark in aesthetic waters,’ as Paul Nash called him. This lecture explores the life and impact of this extraordinary man.

David Boyd Haycock

Dr David Boyd Haycock is a freelance art historian and curator. He is best known for his 2009 book, A Crisis of Brilliance: Five Young British Artists and the Great War, and the subsequent exhibition he curated at Dulwich Picture Gallery (2013). Educated at the University of Oxford, he is a specialist in British art and culture in the period 1848 to 1945. He is the curator of an exhibition Art Then! British Art 1910-1960 opening in October 2026  at Southampton City Art Gallery.

Image credit: Roger Fry, Fort St André, 1913. Southampton Cultural Services

The Arts Society Southampton's talks are held on the second Monday of the month Oct - June at 19.30; the bar opens at 18.45.  Membership of the Society  is £46 annually for all nine lectures; visitors are also welcome and pay £8 on the night at the venue.  More info: www.theartssocietysouthampton.org.uk