This was especially true in domestic settings, where the strains of newfound independence clashed with gender stereotypes and provided the turbulent backdrop to the relationship between two artists in particular – Jean Cooke and John Bratby. Women artists born and raised in the UK could also feel alienated from the art world, partly due to the traditional mindsets that persisted in the early post-war years, strengthened perhaps by a desire to return to normality after the upheavals of global conflict. Jean Cooke (1927–2008) Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery ![]() Among them was Lucian Freud, whose early style was much more precise than his later, freer portraits. It was amid the backdrop of austerity Britain that some of its most revered twentieth-century artists made their names. Elsewhere in 'Postwar Modern', celebrated prewar photojournalist Bill Brandt is shown experimenting with a series of unsettling nude studies that chimed with the works of one of Britain's most important painters. Poor conditions and the effects of the Blitz made a dramatic backdrop for street photographers, among them Picture Post's Bert Hardy, while the likes of Nigel Henderson and the self-taught Roger Mayne found particular inspiration in the innocent play of children and teenagers' more self-conscious posing.įocusing on London, especially working-class neighbourhoods such as North Kensington, Mayne captured the newfound confidence of British youth. Urban areas such as Manchester also needed urgent rebuilding due to bomb damage suffered during the war. ![]() God Save the Queen (Hampden Crescent, Paddington)ġ957, photograph by Roger Mayne (1929–2014)
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