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as “unquestionably the most vital artistic movement in English painting of the last half century”.

The work on show includes Gwen John’s Bust of a girl with a

Stanley Spencer, Portrait of Patricia Preece, 1933, oil on canvas, 83.9 x 73.6 cm. Southampton City Art Gallery. © Estate of Stanley Spencer. All rights reserved 2022 Bridgeman Images bow before a pink background, on loan from the Arts Council Collection. In 1900, two years after completing her studies at the Slade School of Art, Gwen exhibited her work for the very first time.

John Singer Sargent’s At Torre Galli: Ladies in a Garden of 1910, on loan from the Royal Academy, exhibits all the Impressionist flair one would expect from a close friend of Claude Monet.

Sir Stanley Spencer was one of the most distinguished artists associated with the New English Art Club, having been elected a member in the 1920s. His important portrait of his second wife to be, the painter Patricia Preece, dates from 1933 and is on loan from Southampton Art Gallery.

Walter Sickert was one of the most consistent New English Art Club exhibitors, showing over 130 paintings between 1888 and 1939. His portrait of Celia, Lady Brunel dates from about 1906 and typically defies any expectations of the sitter that her attractive features would be emphasized. Instead, he remained committed to subdued lighting and spontaneity.