A Return to the Human Form
Key Artists: Michael Andrews, Frank Auerbach, Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud, R. B. Kitaj, Leon Kossoff
Related Artists: Gillian Ayres, Howard Hodgkin
The School of London was a loose association of artists dedicated to figurative painting at a time when abstraction dominated the art world. The term was coined by R. B. Kitaj in his 1987 British Council exhibition, referring to a group of painters who had upheld the importance of the human form, psychological depth, and materiality of paint.
Artists like Auerbach and Kossoff continued David Bomberg’s legacy, using thick impasto and dynamic brushwork to capture the essence of London’s shifting post-war landscape. Their approach contrasted sharply with Francis Bacon’s visceral, distorted figures and Lucian Freud’s intensely detailed, introspective portraits.
“It was through my contact with Bomberg that I felt I might actually function as a painter.” – Leon Kossoff
Contrasting with Contemporary Movements
At a time when conceptualism, performance art, and minimalism were gaining prominence, the School of London artists reaffirmed the importance of the painted surface and human experience. Their work was deeply personal, often depicting friends, lovers, and the urban environment with a raw emotional intensity.
Kitaj described the group as responding to the existential concerns of post-war Britain, exploring themes of alienation, identity, and mortality in a rapidly modernizing world.
"Francis Bacon was much concerned by the human condition, using derision to depict human figures always shown distorted to express anguish and solitude. Contrary to Bacon's nudity of the soul, Lucian Freud was fascinated by the nudity of bodies, proving to be a master in expressing sheer intimacy with no restrictions." – R. B. Kitaj