The role of mural and decorative painting has been largely neglected in
accounts of twentieth-century British art. In this collection of
specially commissioned studies, leading experts shine the spotlight on
some of the most important and enduring, along with neglected images of
the period. These include previously unpublished Festival of Britain
designs as well as little-known masterpieces from the first generation
of Rome Scholars Colin Gill, Edward Halliday, Glyn Jones, Winifred
Knights and Tom Monnington. Many of these works are reproduced in color
for the first time. More than 30 mural projects discussed and
illustrated include Stanley Spencer's Sandham Memorial Chapel,
Burghclere from the 1920s; Rex Whistler's Tate Restaurant; Edward
Wadsworth's study for a mural at De La Warr Pavilion at Bexhill; Frank
Brangwyn's Rockefeller Plaza, New York; The English Pub, by Edward
Bawden; Telecinema Designs by John Armstrong; John Piper's The
Englishman s Home; Thomas Monnington's ceiling for the New Council
House, Bristol, and the Porthmeor Mural by Peter Lanyon, 1962/63.