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In Search of England

Episode 2 of 3

James Fox examines British art in the interwar years. How did artists react to the erosion of British power, financial crisis and the prospect of another war?

The inter-war years were a period of alarming national change. With a generation of youth lost to the trenches and the cracks in the Empire growing fast, the nation's confidence was in tatters. If we were no longer a mighty Imperial power, what were we? John Nash's mesmerising visions of rural arcadia, Stanley Spencer's glimpses of everyday divinity, Alfred Munnings' prelapsarian nostalgia, Paul Nash's timeless mysticism, John Piper's crumbling ruins, even William Coldstream's blunt celebration of working-class life - all, in their own way, were attempts to answer this question. And, as a reprise of war grew ever more likely, they struggled more urgently than ever to create an image of Britain we could fight for.

1 hour

Last on

Mon 15 Jun 2020 00:35
主播大秀 Four

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Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes

  • 00:21

    Max Richter

    Written on the Sky

Credits

Presenter James Fox
Presenter James Fox
Director Matthew Hill
Director Matthew Hill
Producer Matthew Hill
Producer Matthew Hill
Executive Producer Jonty Claypole
Executive Producer Jonty Claypole

Broadcasts