Exhibition

Phantoms of Surrealism

19 May 2021 – 12 Dec 2021

Regular hours

Wednesday
11:00 – 18:00
Thursday
11:00 – 21:00
Friday
11:00 – 18:00
Saturday
11:00 – 18:00
Sunday
11:00 – 18:00
Tuesday
11:00 – 18:00

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Whitechapel Gallery

London, United Kingdom

Address

Travel Information

  • Bus: 25, 205, 254
  • Aldgate East / Aldgate
  • Liverpool Street
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On a hot summer day of 1936, a woman dressed in a bridal gown paraded in Trafalgar Square; her head completely covered in red roses. The mystery woman puzzled passers-by and later that day made the newspaper headlines.

About

Artist Sheila Legge’s (1911–49) appearance as ‘the phantom of Surrealism’ launched the ‘London International Surrealist Exhibition’, held at the New Burlington Galleries in Mayfair.

The archive exhibition Phantoms of Surrealism will examine the pivotal role of women as both artists and as behind-the-scenes organisers within the Surrealist movement in Britain in the 1930s.

Legge’s contribution will be foregrounded alongside Claude Cahun (1894–1954), Diana Brinton Lee (d. 1982), Margaret Nash (1887–1960), and others. In addition, connections between Surrealist artists and the politically active Artists International Association will be explored, especially at the AIA exhibition held at the Whitechapel Gallery in 1939.

Material from the Gallery’s archive, together with items from the National Galleries of Scotland, Marx Memorial Library and Jersey Heritage Trust will shed new light on the contribution of women to these important exhibitions.

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