British Painting '74

While many of the artists included in the exhibition had received major retrospectives, others were much less well-known.

Richard Hamilton, one of the painters approached by Forge, approved of the selection process, stating that ‘The proposal seems like a good one to me, I have never been afraid of the kind of mess that a mixed show of this kind is likely to conjure up. It is more important to reveal activity than to demonstrate the sensibility of the selector.’

Other artists, including Howard Hodgkin, also welcomed the opportunity to shape the exhibition.

British Painting ’74 was attended by 29,701 visitors. The Arts Council’s Norbert Lynton, commenting on the response to the exhibition, stated that ‘It obviously created a substantial stir. If some of the press comment was critical ... much of it was encouraging, and generally the effect was to bring more people to the exhibition than we have learned to expect when we show contemporary art.’

A sample of press cuttings for British Painting 74.