British Sculpture in the Twentieth Century

Artists: Robert Adams, Eileen Agar, Kenneth Armitage, Michael Ayrton, Reg Butler, Lynn Chadwick, Frank Dobson, Jacob Epstein, Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, Eric Gill, Barbara Hepworth, Henry Moore, John Skeaping, William Tucker, Eduardo Paolozzi, William Turnbull, Dora Gordine, Gertrude Hermes et al.
Authors: Sandy Nairne and Nicholas Serota (eds.) 
Publisher: Whitechapel Art Gallery 
Date: 1981 
Condition: In generally good condition, especially as this seems to be a catalogue prone to falling apart. A little sunning to the spine edge of the cover, and some light handling marks but a clean and apparently little-used copy. Loosely inserted is the handlist/gallery guide for Part 2 of the show

This has long been a favourite catalogue of mine - not only is it a very interesting volume with several essays by esteemed scholars, but it has a graphic style of its own, even including a modern take on the Victorian 'pointing hand' device! I have referred to it many times over the years and still rather envy the effortless way it seems to cover a century of enormous change and accomplishment.

The exhibition, at the Whitechapel Art Gallery in 1981-82, was actually shown in two parts; the first covered the period 1901-50 and then the second subsequent exhibition dealt with 1951-80. The scope is huge, and while perusing it, trying to imagine putting on such a show now leaves you feeling quite overwhelmed. I slightly wonder if this same kind of scope was what Penelope Curtis was aiming for with the rather criticised Modern British Sculpture exhibition at the RA in 2011?