Design for Performance: Art on the British Stage
-
Wednesday 2 December 2026
(11am to 4:30pm) - Lettsom House & as Post Event Online Recording, First Floor, 11 Chandos Street, London W1G 9EB (NB: There is no lift in this building)
- Lecturer: Jane Pritchard
Many artists have welcomed the opportunity to design dance and opera productions. This study day will focus on the artists who have designed for dance and opera during the twentieth century looking at how changes in the approach to design for the stage changed early in the twentieth century, moving away from ‘realism’ to enable artist-designers to bring the imaginative force of their artistic vision to life on the British stage. Contextualising trends in theatre design throughout the century, we will look at key design movements and the work of artists including William Nicholson, Sophie Fedorovitch, Bakst, Picasso, John Piper, and Howard Hodgkin.
Programme for the day:
- The development of design for the stage in the twentieth century.
- The Impact of the Ballets Russes on British artist-designers including Edward Burra, Rex Whistler and John Piper.
- Mid-century artists turn to stage design; the contribution from Leslie Hurry, the ‘2 Roberts’, Barbara Hepworth and Derek Jarman.
- Art and Design at the end of the twentieth century; David Hockney, Howard Hodgkin, Bridget Riley and artists encouraged by Brian Robertson of the Whitechapel Art Gallery.
A detailed programme will be available on the day.
Lecturer
Jane Pritchard MBE was curator of dance for the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (V&A) until July 2026. She has curated many exhibitions at the V&A including co-curating Diaghilev and the Golden Age of the Ballets Russes 1909–1929, for which she gave this Society a study day. She has made radio programmes for the BBC, curated seasons of dance films and contributed to numerous publications including the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography and The Annual Register. She was the author of Anna Pavlova Twentieth Century Ballerina. She has been a recipient of a Churchill Travel Fellowship and the Anthony Denning Research Award. She was awarded an MBE for services to the arts in the 2014 New Year Honours.