20th-century UK Jewish artists highlighted at British Art Fair 

Works by previously unseen and sidelined 20th-century British Jewish artists who were immigrants to the UK are included in a landmark exhibition at this year’s British Art Fair which looks afresh at Britain’s cultural identity and heritage.

Titled Crossing Borders: Internationalism in Modern British Art, the exhibition is co-curated by renowned art historian Monica Bohm-Duchen and the art market columnist Colin Gleadell.

The project began earlier this year when the curators put out a call for works to British Art Fair’s exhibiting galleries, who comprise many of the UK’s most established art dealers.

The response was impressive with paintings, sculptures, photography, mixed-media works and drawings by immigrant artists of the past 100 years submitted by over 30 galleries. While some of the selected artists are internationally famous, others had been previously overlooked.

Over 50 artists are included in Crossing Borders and the exhibition is divided into three sections with the first being 20th century British Jewish Artists features figures both familiar – David Bomberg, Mark Gertler, Lucian Freud and Frank Auerbach – and less familiar – such as Clara Klinghoffer, Peter Kinley and Henry Inlander.

The other two sections are entitled Immigration and Diversity in the Post-War British Art World, comprising work by 20 artists who arrived in the UK from India, Pakistan, Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Ghana, Sudan, Algeria, South Africa and the Caribbean and Crossing Borders, Going Global, which looks beyond the first two sections to the diverse array of artists who arrived from as far afield as Taiwan and America.

British Art Fair director, Will Ramsay said: “Crossing Borders is an important exhibition for British Art Fair that sets out to reveal the internationalism and diversity in Modern British Art and its enduring impact on the work of the artist’s of today. We are pleased to have such prestigious curators working with us on the show alongside our exhibitors.”

Crossing Borders is a museum-style exhibition installed at Saatchi Gallery during British Art Fair open 28 September to 1 October. Monica Bohm-Duchen is giving a talk about the show on Friday 29 September at 4pm.
Entry to both the exhibition and the talk is included in the ticket price to British Art Fair.