| Description | Eleven volumes of press cuttings from the Institute of Contemporary Arts. Includes press cuttings of the Surrealist exhibitions 1937-1938.
Volume 1. Founding of ICA, June 1947 - December 1948. Fiches 1-2.;
Volume 2. Loose press cuttings January 1949 - December 1951. Fiches 3-9.;
Volume 3. May 1952 - May 1953; 4 cuttings at the end, June - August 1953. Fiches 10-13.;
Volume 4. February 1952 - June 1954; 1 cutting at the end, January 1952. Fiches 14-15.;
Volume 5. January 1952 - June 1954; 1 cutting at the end, September 1954. Fiches 16-18.;
Volume 6. February - September 1957. Fiches 19-21.;
Volume 7. April 1957 - December 1958; 1 cutting at the end, August 1955. Fiches 22-24.;
Volume 8. February 1963 - December 1964. Fiches 25-27.;
Volume 9. March 1966 - August 1967. Fiches 28-29.;
Volume 10. August 1967 - November 1968. Fiches 30-35.;
Volume 11. April 1968 - January 1969. Fiches 36-37.;
Loose press cuttings: Surrealist exhibitions 1937-1938, undated press cuttings. Fiches 38-39. |
| Administrative History | The Institute of Contemporary Arts was originally based in Charlotte Street, headed by Roland Penrose, Herbert Read, Peter Watson, Eric 'Peter' Gregory and Peter (Noel) Norton. They organised the first exhibition 'Forty Years of Modern Art' in the basement of the Academy Cinema in Oxford Street, 1948. The second exhibition, featuring more surrealist and abstract art, was entitled 'Forty Thousand Years of Modern Art', (paying homage to the prehistoric and tribal art believed central to modernism).
The ICA moved to Dover Street in 1950, and then to more spacious surroundings in Nash House, Carlton House Terrace in 1968. The ICA has been involved with all facets of the arts since its conception, including lectures, dance performances and film seasons. The focus remains on current artistic movements, experiments and developments in art, rather than retrospective or historical exhibitions. |