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Eileen Agar Biography
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1899 |
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Born 1st December in Buenos Aires.
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1919 |
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The Agar family moved to Balfour Place, London
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1920 - 1921 |
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Horace Kesteven, the music master at Tudor Hall, toook Agar to studio of Charles Sims RA. Summer at Cap d’Antibes. Taught watercolour by William Thornley, who also took her to see the murals by Puvis de Chavannes at the Pantheon and to Rodin’s studio at Meudon. Trip to Argentina for her 21st Birthday celebrations. Attended Leon Underwood’s Brook Green School
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1921 - 1924 |
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Attended the Slade part-time.Taught by Professor Henry Tonks. Left home for a flat in Royal Hospital Road, Chelsea and studio in Royal Avenue. Visited Paris, Madrid, Toledo and Seville with Robin Bartlett, fellow student at the Slade.
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1925 |
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Destroyed most of her work. November: married Robin Bartlett; they moved to flat in Fernshaw Road, Chelsea; December father died, leaving Agar £1000 per annum. Periods in cottage at Varengeville near Dieppe acquired by Bartlett
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1926 |
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Spring met Joseph Bard, began relationship which lasted fifty years. Separation from Bartlett
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1927 - 1928 |
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Agar and Joseph Bard took a flat in Fitzroy Square. Winter spent in Portofino. Met Ezra Pound. Agar stayed behind in Rapallo to paint, Bard returned to London. Photographed by Cecil Beaton. Spring: returned to London. Summer holiday: Birling Gap, near Eastbourne; Autumn: moved to Paris, took a flat in Rue Schoelcher
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1929 |
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Summer spent at Cap Martin. Visited by Evelyn Waugh
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1928 - 1930 |
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Studied painting with Czech Cubist painter, Frantisek Fòlt´yn; visited Brancusi’s studio; met Louis Marcoussis, André Breton and Paul Eluard
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1930 |
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Summer: Agar and Bard to Sark to stay with her sister, Winifred and her husband Hugh Mackintosh. Autumn: move to number 47 Bramham Gardens, London. Rodney Thomas designed interiors of studio and flat
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1931 |
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Publication of The Island, edited by Joseph Bard in collaboration with Leon Underwood. Agar contributed to all four numbers.
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1933 |
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First solo show at Bloomsbury Gallery – a seven-year retrospective. Joined the London Group, at suggestion of Henry Moore, and exhibited with them
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1934 |
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Summer at Wittersham, Kent. Visits from A R Orage and Henry and Irina Moore. Exhibited with the London Group. Made first collages
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1935 |
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Summer: Bard and Agar took house at Swanage - met Paul Nash through Ashley Havinden. Nash introduced Agar to the idea of the ‘found object’. She found a ‘seashore monster’.
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1936 |
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Penrose and Read as British selectors for the International Surrealist Exhibition, London, visited Agar’s studio and chose 3 oils and 5 objects. Agar’s work appeared in the exhibition held at the New Burlington Galleries, London, alongside work by Picasso, Miró, Ernst etc. July: Agar and Bard travelled to Ploumanach, Brittany. Agar acquired Rolleiflex camera and photographed the stones. Request from the Museum of Modern Art, New York, for loan of Quadriga for Fantastic Art, Dada & Surrrealism exhibition
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1937 |
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Summer: Eluard visited Agar and Bard in London. July: Agar and Bard stayed at Lambe Creek, Cornwall with Roland Penrose, Lee Miller, Paul and Nusch Eluard. Agar started affair with Eluard. September: travelled with them to Hôtel Vaste Horizon, Mougins to join Picasso and Man Ray. November: Surrealist Objects & Poems exhibition at the London Gallery. Agar exhibited Angel of Anarchy (first version). Also exhibited with International Association and with the London Group
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1938 |
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Summer: to Somerset – a period more of travel than work. September: to Knokke in Belgium. Agar took more photographs
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1939 |
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Spring: to Toulon. Agar painted soldiers on the quay and found the amphora base for the Marine Object in a fishing net. Exhibited with the London Group
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1937 - 1940 |
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Showed in exhibitions organised by the Surrealists in England
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1940 |
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February 29th: married Joseph Bard. War disrupted painting. War work in a canteen in Savile Row until the end of the war. First meetings of the British Surrealists at the Barcelona Restaurant. Exhibited in Surrealism Today, at Zwemmer Gallery, London. Visits from Paul Nash
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1941 |
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Exhibited with the London Group
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1942 |
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Solo exhibition at the Redfern Gallery, London; exhibited with the London Group (also in 1943 & 1947)
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1935 - 1944 |
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Affair with Paul Nash
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1944 |
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Visit to Buttermere in Lake District. Agar painted watercolour landscapes. Visit to Edinburgh. ELT Mesens published poem about Agar in Troisième Front
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1945 |
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War ended. Visit to Cornwall
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1946 |
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Started painting agagin but dissatisfied with work
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1947 |
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Contributed to the Surrealist exhibition at the Galerie Maeght, Paris. Travelled with the PEN Club to Stockholm
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1949 |
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Spring: solo exhibition at the Hanover Gallery, written up by Geoffrey Grigson in The Listener. Summer: with PEN Club to Venice. Met Peggy Guggenheim
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1950 |
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Summer: to Provence with sister Winifred
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1952 - 1953 |
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Winter: to Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife; began to make watercolours and frottages of the landscape
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1954 - 1957 |
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Winter: visits to Tenerife
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1958 |
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Agar and Bard moved to West House, Melbury Road, Kensington
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1960 |
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Visits to Venice and Cornwall. Joseph Bard unwell
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1962 |
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Joseph Bard ill. Tate Gallery bought the Flying Pillar
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1965 |
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Agar discoved acrylic paints
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1968 |
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Proposal for retrospective exhibition. Began large scale canvases for the exhibition
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1971 |
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Retrospective exhibition at the Commonwealth Institute, London
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1975 |
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July 26: death of Joseph Bard
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1981 |
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Exhibition of recent work at the New Art Centre
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1985 |
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Began a series of paintings based on photographs of Ploumanach. Photographed by Lord Snowden modelling clothes by Issey Miyake
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1987 |
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Moved from Westbury House
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1988 |
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Autobiography A Look at my Life published
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1989 |
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Appeared in Channel Four TV documentary Five Women Artists
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1990 |
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Elected Academician of the Royal Academy, London
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1991 |
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November 17: died in London
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| Selected Exhibitions |
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2000
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Eileen Agar 1899-1991: Paintings and Drawings A Centenary Exhibition, The Redfern Gallery, London (solo)
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1999 - 2000
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Eileen Agar 1899-1991: A Centenary Exhibition,Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh and Leeds City Art Gallery (solo)
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1997
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El Objecto Surrealista, Ivam Centre Julio Gonzalez, Valencia
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1996
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In the Mind’s Eye: Surrealist Works on Paper, Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester
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1992
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Ten Decades. Careers of Ten Women Artists Born 1897-1906. Norwich Gallery, Norfolk Institute of Art and Design, Norwich
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1990
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Collages Surréalistes, Galerie Zabriskie, Paris
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1989
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British Surrealism, Blond Fine Art, London
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1989
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I surrealisti, Palazzo Reale, Milan
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1988
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The Surrealist Spirit in England, Whitford and Hughes, London
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1987
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La Femme et le Surréalisme, Musée Cantonal des Beaux-Arts, Lausanne
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1987
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Surrealismi Retretti, Art Centre Suomi, Finland
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1987
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Retrospective Exhibition, Birch and Conran Gallery, London (solo)
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1986
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Contrariwise: Surrealism and Britain 1930-1986, Swansea Festival Exhibition, Swansea
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1986
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Surrealism in England, 1936 and After, Canterbury College of Art, Herbert Read Gallery, Canterbury
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1986
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Angels of Anarchy and Machines for Making Clouds. Surrealism in Britain in the Thirties, Leeds City Art Galleries
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1986
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Women Artists of the Surrealist Movement, Baruch College Gallery, New York
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1986
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British Surrealism – Fifty Years On, The Mayor Gallery, London
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1986
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British Surrealism – Fifty Years On, The Mayor Gallery, London
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1986
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1936 Surrealism: Objects, Photographs, Collages, Documents, Zabriskie Gallery, New York
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1985
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British Women Surrealists, Blond Fine Art, London
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1985
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A Salute to British Surrealism 1930-1950, The Minories, Colchester; Blond Fine Art, London; Ferens Art Gallery, Hull
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1985
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Je ne comprends pas la raison, James Birch Fine Art, London
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1985
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La Planète affolée: Surréalsime dispersion et influences 1938-1947, Musées de Marseilles
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1985
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Objects from a Landscape Ploumanach and Port-Cross, New Art Centre, London (solo)
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1984
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New Art Centre, London (solo)
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1984
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In the Spirit of Surrealism, Oliver Bradbury and James Birch Fine Art, London
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1983
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New Art Centre, London (solo)
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1983
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The Story of the Artists’ International Association, 1933-1953, Museum of Modern Art, Oxford and touring
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1982
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The Women’s Art Show 1950-1970, Nottingham City Museum and Art Gallery, Nottingham
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1982
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Peinture Surréaliste en Angleterre 1930-1969, Galerie 1900-2000, Paris
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1981
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Image and Form: British Sculpture in the 20th Century, 1901-1950, Whitechapel Art Gallery, London
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1981
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The First Fifty Years. British Art of the Twentieth Century, National Art Gallery, Wellington, New Zealand
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1981
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Paintings and Drawings, New Art Centre, London (solo)
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1980
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Clementi House, London (solo)
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1980
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The Other Face of the Avant-Garde 1910-1940, Palazzo Reale, Milan and Stockholm
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1980
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Photographic Surrealism, travelling exhibition, New York, Cleveland, Ohio and touring
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1979
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International Exhibition of Soft Art, Kunsthaus, Zurich
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1979
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Thirties: British Art and Design before the War, Hayward Gallery, London
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1978
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Dada and Surrealism Reviewed, Hayward Gallery, London
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1978
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New Art Centre, London (solo)
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1976
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A Decade of Discoveries, New Art Centre, London (solo)
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1976
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Leon Underwood and 12 Girdler’s Road, New Arts Centre, London.
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1976
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British Painting 1900-1960, Sheffield City Art Gallery
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1975
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New Art Centre, London (solo)
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1975
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The Obelisk Gallery, London (solo)
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1974
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British Painting 1974, Hayward Gallery, London
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1974
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Hampstead in the Thirties. A Committed Decade, Camden Arts Centre, London
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1973
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The Illustration of Reality and the Reality of Illusion, McRobert Centre, Stirling University
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1971
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Britain’s Contribution to Surrealism of the ‘30s and ‘40s, Hamet Gallery, London
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1971
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Retrospective Exhibition, Commonwealth Art Gallery, London (solo)
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1969
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John Moores’ Exhibition, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
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1967
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The Enchanted Domain, Surrealist Art, The City Gallery, Exeter
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1965
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Art in Britain 1930-40, Marlborough Gallery, London
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1965
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Moyan Gallery 2, Manchester (solo)
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1964
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Paintings and Collages, Brook Street Gallery, London (solo)
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1964
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Fifty Years of British Art 1914-64, London Group Jubilee Exhibition, Tate Gallery, London
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1963
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Bilico Gallery, Rome (solo)
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1962
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Recent Paintings 1960-62, Brook Street Gallery, London (solo)
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1961
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John Moores’ Exhibition, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
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1961
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The Art of Assemblage, Museum of Modern Art, New York
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1956
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Modern Trends in Watercolour Painting, Cumberland House, Museum and Art Gallery, Portsmouth
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1952
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Mirror and the Square, New Burlington Galleries, London
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1951
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London Group, New Burlington Galleries, London
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1951
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The Hanover Gallery, London (solo)
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1949
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Recent Paintings, The Hanover Gallery, London (solo)
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1947
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The Leger Gallery, London (solo)
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1947
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Exposition Internationale du Surréalisme, Galerie Maeght, Paris
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1945
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Works, by Eminent British Artists, Russell-Cotes Gallery, Bournemouth
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1944
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The Redfern Gallery, London (solo)
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1942
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The Redfern Gallery, London (solo)
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1942
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New Movements in Contemporary Art. Contemporary Work in England, London Museum, London
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1940
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Surrealist Work: Artists’ International Association, Whitechapel Art Gallery, London
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1940
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Surrealism Today, Zwemmer Gallery, London
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1939
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Living Art in England, London Gallery, London
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1939
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British Surrealist and Abstract Paintings, Northampton Art Gallery, Northampton
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1939
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Artists’ International Association, Artists for Peace, Democracy and Cultural Development, Whitechapel Art Gallery, London
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1938
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Exposition Internationale du Surréalisme, Galerie Robert, Amsterdam
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1938
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Pictures on the Staircase, London Gallery, London
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1937
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Artists’ International Association, Unity of Artists for Peace, Democracy And Cultural Development, Whitechapel Art Gallery, London
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1937
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38 Surrealist Objects and Poems, London Gallery, London
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1937
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Exposition Internationale du Surréalisme, Nippon Salon, Tokyo, Japan
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1936
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International Surrealist Exhibition, New Burlington Galleries, London
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1936
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Fantastic Art, Dada and Surrealism, Museum of Modern Art, New York
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1933
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Bloomsbury Gallery, London (solo)
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