The Birmingham Artists Committee was an English

artist collective An artist collective or art group or artist group is an initiative that is the result of a group of artists working together, usually under their own management, towards shared aims. The aims of an artist collective can include almost anything t ...

that organised exhibitions of

painting Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

and

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

in Birmingham between 1947 and 1952. The committee was organised by the art critic Robert Melville and artists including Oscar Mellor and

Trevor Denning Trevor J. Denning (6 December 1923 – 23 October 2009) was an England, English artist, sculptor, writer, and art teacher who was influential in the Birmingham art community. Biography Denning was born in Moseley, Birmingham, studying paintin ...

to break the stranglehold of the conservative

Royal Birmingham Society of Artists The Royal Birmingham Society of Artists (RBSA) is an art society, based in the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham, England, where it owns and operates an art gallery, the RBSA Gallery, on Brook Street, just off St Paul's Square, Birmingham, St Pa ...

on the exhibition of work by living artists in the city. Its exhibitions were an important post-war outlet for the

Birmingham Surrealists The Birmingham Surrealists were an informal grouping of artists and intellectuals associated with the Surrealist movement in art, based in Birmingham, England from the 1930s to the 1950s. The key figures were the artists Conroy Maddox and John M ...

, showing the work of

Conroy Maddox Conroy Maddox (27 December 1912 – 14 January 2005) was an English surrealist painter, collagist, writer and lecturer; and a key figure in the Birmingham Surrealist movement.Morris, Desmond (2018), ''The Lives of the Surrealists''. He wa ...

John Melville John William Melville (25 August 1902 – 8 December 1986) was a self-taught British Surrealism, Surrealist painter. He is described by Michel Remy in his book ''Surrealism in Britain'' as one of the "harbingers of surrealism" in Great Britain ...

Emmy Bridgwater Emma Frith Bridgwater (10 November 1906 – 13 March 1999),. known as Emmy Bridgwater, was an English artist and poet associated with the Surrealist movement. Based at times in both Birmingham and London, she was a significant member of the Birm ...

and the young

Desmond Morris Desmond John Morris FLS ''hon. caus.'' (born 24 January 1928) is an English zoologist, ethologist and surrealist painter, as well as a popular author in human sociobiology. He is known for his 1967 book ''The Naked Ape'', and for his televis ...

. Other notable artists represented included

CoBrA COBRA or Cobra, often stylized as CoBrA, was a European avant-garde art group active from 1948 to 1951. The name was coined in 1948 by Christian Dotremont from the initials of the members' home countries' capital cities: Copenhagen (Co), Brussels ...

member

William Gear William Gear RA RBSA (2 August 1915 – 27 February 1997) was a Scottish painter, most notable for his abstract compositions. Early life Gear was born in Methil in south-east Fife, Scotland, the son of Janet (1886-1955) and Porteous Gea ...

and the sculptor

Gordon Herickx Gordon Herickx (1900–1953) was an English sculptor. Biography Born in Birmingham, one of seven children of gem setter Emile Herickx and his wife Martha, Herickx won a scholarship in 1914 to study under William Bloye at the Birmingham School of ...

. Although there was no organisational link, The Birmingham Artists Committee was acknowledged as a catalyst by the artists who founded the

Ikon Gallery The Ikon Gallery () is an England, English art gallery, gallery of contemporary art, located in Brindleyplace, Birmingham. It is housed in the Listed building, Grade II listed, neo-Gothic former Oozells Street Board School, designed by John Henr ...

in 1964.

References

English artist groups and collectives Art museums and galleries in Birmingham, West Midlands Arts organizations established in 1947 {{UK-art-display-stub