EXHIBITIONS: Paule Vézelay at RWA, Bristol & Towner, Eastbourne
Paule Vézelay: Living Lines opens at RWA, Bristol on 25 January and runs until 27 April 2025.
Paule Vézelay (née Marjorie Watson-Williams; 1892–1984) was a key figure of 20th-century British abstract art, playing a central role in the Parisian avant-garde of the 1920s and '30s.
This exhibition is the largest solo show of Vézelay's work in over 40 years, and also includes sculptures by Alexander Calder and Marlow Moss, Vézelay's friends and fellow artists. Her circle in Paris included Hans and Sophie Taueber-Arp, Andre Masson and other leading artists and members of the Surrealist and Abstraction-Creation groups.
On display are more than 60 works including paintings, prints, sculptures and textiles, in addition to archive items such as photographs and personal letters. The exhibition spans Vézelay's career, from her early interest in Bristol's theatre scene to her breakthrough into abstract art in Paris and later success as a textile designer.
Construction. Grey Lines on Pink Ground (1938), Paule Vézelay. Tate, purchased 1973 © the Estate of Paule Vézelay. Photo: Tate
The Lund Humphries book Paule Vézelay: Living Lines – the first major publication on Vézelay – edited by Simon Grant (who curated the exhibition) and featuring essays by Professor Sarah Wilson, Gemma Brace, and Helen Janecek will be available at both exhibition venues, and is also available direct from our website HERE.
The show will travel to Towner Gallery, Eastbourne from 14 May to 31 August 2025.