ART-EXIT: 1939 A Very Different Europe

Hugo ‘Puck’ Dachinger, Portrait of a Man: Wilhelm Hollitscher, (Huyton Internment Camp, Liverpool, 1940), Watercolour and gouache on newsprint Ben Uri Collection © ESTATE OF HUGO DACHINGER

Ben Uri at the 12 Star Gallery, Europe House, London SW1P 3EU

Ben Uri is proud to present this timely and important exhibition ART-EXIT: 1939 A Very Different Europe at the 12 Star Gallery, Westminster, which is dedicated to promoting European debate.

The exhibition shines a spotlight on a very different Europe 80 years ago in the lead up to, and the start of, WW2. It features the forced journeys of many of central Europe’s most distinguished and pioneering artists, who fled tyranny in search of artistic and personal freedoms.

It features émigrés from countries including Austria, Czechoslovakia, France, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Russia, and includes works by artists including Adler, Auerbach, Chagall, Feibusch, Frankfurther, Freud, Grosz, Herman, Kokoschka, Meidner, Schwitters, Soutine and Topolski.

As Europe as a whole is experiencing a growing nationalist and populist momentum, these artists, their work and forced journeys – followed by new lives and significant contributions as immigrants in their new homelands – all have fascinating, important and topical stories to tell.

Opening hours: 10am – 6pm, Monday to Friday

Admission: Free