Modern art at Temple Newsam: re-visiting Philip Hendy's wartime exhibitions

Curator Clare Nadell will take us through the fascinating story of how some of the most exciting works of art of their time were exhibited at one of the country's most stately historic buildings, Temple Newsam, during the second world war.

In August 1939, the collections at Leeds City Art Gallery were transferred to Temple Newsam for safekeeping due to the threat of war. Rooms in the South Wing were adapted as ‘galleries for modern pictures’ to display the collections. These refurbished spaces formed the impetus for a series of contemporary art exhibitions by leading modernist artists, including Barbara Hepworth, Henry Moore and Graham Sutherland.

Clare's talk will retrace the history of these groundbreaking exhibitions and how they set a precedent for displaying contemporary art at Temple Newsam.

Dr Clare Nadal is Assistant Curator, Sculpture at Leeds Museums and Galleries and the Henry Moore Institute. She completed her PhD at the University of Huddersfield and The Hepworth Wakefield in 2020 on the personal library of Barbara Hepworth, examining the significance that reading held for Hepworth’s art.

Host or Publisher Leeds Art Fund