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“ASenseofForm”:theartofDavidBomberg
experience,andthoselikeSickert,whofeltthatartneededtobeunderwritten
bythesecurityofitsreferencetoaworldofugrossmaterialfacts””65l
Theexhibitionprecipitatedasheerbreakfromrecenttrendsinpaintingl
AsCliveBelllaterrecalled,utomanyofusPost-Impressionistmeantanti-Im-
pressionist”66lThetimingoftheexhibitionhighlightedthethreatposedbythe
newartwhichwasexacerbatedbythegeneralsocio-politicalunrest:thecon-
tinuingfearofGermanattackandthecoincidenceoftheshowwiththeWelsh
coal-miners’strikewhichlaterspreadtootherpartsofBritain,thegrowing
violenceoftheSuffragettesandtheLiberalscomingintopower,aswellasan-
archists’disruptions,allofwhichwereanticipatingtheapproachingchangel
In1910WalterSickertobservedthatthereemergedastyleemployinguaclean
andsolidmosaicofthickpaintinalightkey”whichsoontookonamoredecisive
roleencouragedbyPost-Impressionistinnovations67lThefermentinBritishart
wasalreadytakingplacepriortothe1910Post-Impressionistexhibition,and
tooktheformofanumberofartisticassociations,includingtheaforementioned
BloomsburyGrouplTheaimofthesemovementswastoignitetheartiststoem-
phasiseintheirworkstheformallanguage,althoughtheirdegreeofmodernity
variedlTheFridayClub,foundedbyVanessaBellin1905wastofortifythepo-
sitionofnewdirectionsinpaintinglTheweaknessofthesocietywasthatsuch
ageneralaim,apartfromitsobviousappealtotheprofessionalartistsfromthe
Bloomsburycircle,onlyreallyattractedanumberofamateursl
Theprevailingdislikeofthedominantartinstitutions,whichhadbeengrow-
ingsteadilyinrecentyears,tookformbymeansoftheAlliedArtistsAssocia-
tionlItsformation,asHarrisonclaims,uwasasignofthereluctanceofyounger
artiststosubmittheirworktothenowestablished8modern’institution68lAn
exhibitingbodyestablishedontheFrenchmodeloftheSalondesIndépendants,
wasbasedontheideaoforganisingregularjury-freeexhibitionslThefounders
wereSickert,GoreandPissarrolItsfirstexhibitionattheAlbertHallinJuly
1908displayedoverthreethousandexhibits,withentrytodisplayonpay-
mentofasubscriptionwhichallowedeachartisttoshownomorethanthree
pieces
69
lAsaresultofsuchanarrangementtheexhibitionswereheterogene-
ousandasubstantialnumberofunprofessionalworksweredisplayed,making
itevenmoredifficultforthe8real’avant-gardeartists,whowereoftenpenniless,
tomovetheirideasforwardl
65Harrison(1994:48)l
66Spalding(1996:37)l
67Spalding(1996:37)l
68Harrison(1994:35)l
69Spalding(1996:38)l