ROGER FRY AND THE ‘ARTQUAKE’ OF 1910 TALK

An Exclusive Talk for Members of the Ashmolean

This event takes place in person in the Headley Lecture Theatre and online via Zoom

Doors open at 5.30pm, with drinks provided

In-person tickets are £20 and online tickets are £10.

Booking is essential. Book below

With David Boyd Haycock, art historian, author and curator

Roger Fry (1866-1934) was a British painter and art critic, and a member of the Bloomsbury Group, an influential collective of 20th-century British writers, artists and intellectuals.

In this talk David will introduce his new book ‘Art Quake 1910: The Manet and the Post-Impressionists Exhibition’ which casts a spotlight on Fry’s life and his role in creating Modern British Art.

In 1910, Fry curated the ground-breaking exhibition ‘Manet and the Post-Impressionists’ in London. Featuring work by Gauguin, Picasso, Matisse, Cézanne and Van Gogh, this ‘artquake’ transformed perceptions of art in Britain forever.

Intent on making the British public more attentive to beauty and good design, Fry founded the Omega Workshop in 1912, employing young artists to produce highly original household goods for the middle and upper classes.

Yet he was a divisive figure – ‘a shark in aesthetic waters,’ as one contemporary called him. 

Join us for this talk to find out more…

Fanny Claus, Edward Manet, 1868, oil on canvas, on display in Gallery 65

Sir Charles Holroyd, Roger Fry, 1899, etched copper plate

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. David Boyd Haycock is a Visiting Research Fellow at Oxford Brookes University. A freelance lecturer and curator, he is the author of a number of books, including A Crisis of Brilliance: Five Young British Artists and the Great War (2009) and Brilliant Destiny: The Age of Augustus John (2023).

Copies of David’s new book will be available for purchase on the day:

David Boyd Haycock, ‘Art Quake 1910: The Manet and the Post-Impressionists Exhibition’ (2026). 

Further Reading

• Virginia Woolf, Roger Fry: A Biography (1940)
• Frances Spalding, The Bloomsbury Group (2021)

BOOKING

This event takes place in person in the Headley Lecture Theatre and online via Zoom

In-person tickets are £20 and online tickets are £10. Booking is essential

Tickets are only available to Members of the Ashmolean

BOOK YOUR TICKET

Find out more about Ashmolean Membership: Become a Member