The relationship of skirt length to a nation's economic prosperity is well documented by anthropologists such as Desmond Morris. The more prosperous the nation is feeling, the higher the hemline tends to rise.
The relationship of economics and design is manifest in other ways too. In times of austerity such as as the current time in Britain, designers look to moments of historic economic austerity for inspiration. In Britain, design from the 1930's through the Second World War and up to about 1960, has been of particular interest.
David Bomberg (1890–1957) was an artist and teacher working throughout this period and who was at his most influential in the late 1940s and early 1050s. Teaching at what is now the London Southbank University he gathered around him artists that came to have a major influence on the direction of British art. The first of these groupings was known as the Borough Group (1946-51) and latterly, Borough Bottega (1953-55).
The Borough Road Gallery, part of London Southbank University, has recently opened and is showing
A David Bomberg Legacy – The Sarah Rose Collection Legacy.
The Borough Road Gallery: Exhibition runs from 23
rd June 13
th October. London Southbank University, 103 Borough Road, London SE1 0AA.
