Shop

Robert Burstow

The essay looks in detail at the ‘Sculpture in the Home’ exhibitions, which were put on by the Arts Council and the Council of Industrial Design between 1946 and 1959. These exhibitions presented works by contemporary sculptors within settings suggestive of modern domestic interiors. Touring through Britain, from Aberdeen to Eastbourne and Swansea to Cambridge, they sought to show how sculpture could be enjoyed in the home as part of everyday life. The essay investigates the people and ideas behind the exhibitions and the selection of works, and presents rarely seen photographs and sketches of the original gallery installations. It considers the shows in the wider context of the reconstruction and modernisation of the home and family in post-war Britain.