Join curator and art historian Alicia Foster to hear about the life and work of Gwen John and Dorothy Mead, two painters who made their careers in the art world of the twentieth century.

The artist Dorothy Mead (1928-1975) studied at the Borough Polytechnic (now London South Bank University) in the 1940s and 1950s. London South Bank University’s A David Bomberg Legacy: the Sarah Rose Collection includes the largest holding of Mead’s artwork in a public collection. These paintings are showcased in the +Archive: Dorothy Mead app.

The artist Gwen John (1876 -1939) was born in Wales and studied at the Slade School of Art. Her work is now receiving greater attention - Alicia Foster's exhibition: Gwen John Art and Life in London and Paris (Pallant and tour, 2023-4) opens on 13 May 2023. Gwen John's work is the subject of the second +Archive: Gwen John app, launching this year.

Alicia will also discuss her experience of writing about and curating the work of women artists today.

Event timings

6.00pm Doors Open

6.30pm Talk and Q&A

8.00pm Drinks Reception

8.30pm END

Speaker Biography:

Dr Alicia Foster is an art historian, curator and novelist. Alicia has curated three major exhibitions showing the work of twentieth-century women artists: Radical Women, Jessica Dismorr and her Contemporaries (Pallant House Gallery, 2019), Nina Hamnett (Charleston Trust, 2021) and the forthcoming Gwen John Art and Life in London and Paris (Pallant and tour, 2023-4). Previous publications include: Gwen John (Tate, 1999), the first complete survey of women artists in Tate collections Tate Women Artists (Tate, 2004), and Nina Hamnett (Eiderdown, 2021). Her novel Warpaint was published by Penguin in 2013. Her forthcoming critical biography Gwen John, Art and Life in London and Paris (Thames & Hudson) is published this May. Alicia has also written about the artist Dorothy Mead for Art UK.

Follow Alicia Foster on Twitter.

Event sponsorship:

This event has been organised in celebration of the +Archive: Dorothy Mead and Gwen John apps - created by researcher Dr Ana-Maria Herman - to bring attention to women artists. The Borough Road Collection Archive commissioned the +Archive: Dorothy Mead app to bring the artist's work to a wider audience. The +Archive: Gwen John app presents works from various collections (including those of the Tenby Museum & Art Gallery and Sheffield Museums), providing a view into aspects of John's life, work and technique.

The Dorothy Mead and Gwen John apps are available on the App Store and are free to download:

Download the +Archive: Dorothy Mead app

Download the +Archive: Gwen John app

Funding to develop the apps and in support of this event was received from London South Bank University and the Research Wales Innovation Fund at Swansea University.

Find out more about Dr Ana Maria Herman and her research

Borough Road Collection Archive

London South Bank University (LSBU) holds A David Bomberg Legacy: the Sarah Rose Collection, based at the university’s Borough Road Gallery. The collection brings together over 120 works of art by the important twentieth-century British artist David Bomberg and by a selection of the artists who studied with him when he taught at the Borough Polytechnic (now LSBU) from 1945 until 1953. These artists include Dorothy Mead, Edna Mann, Dennis Creffield, Cliff Holden and Miles Richmond, who are all represented in the Sarah Rose Collection. The Borough Road Collection Archive showcases their work through new research and writing, events and digital artworks.

You can follow the Borough Road Collection Archive on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Hero of her own life: telling the stories of Dorothy Mead and Gwen John