We don’t have an image of this object online yet. V&A Images may have a photograph that we can’t show online, but it may be possible to supply one to you. Email us at vaimages@vam.ac.uk for guidance about fees and timescales, quoting the accession number: E.3015-2007
Find out about our images

Image of Gallery in South Kensington
Request to view at the Prints & Drawings Study Room, room 514a , Case RK, Shelf 15, Box R

The Friday Club

Poster
ca. 1920 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This poster is one of at least two designed by Paul Nash (1889-1946) to advertise exhibitions of the Friday Club. It is undated, but the image is a version of Nash’s characteristic view of the coast at Dymchurch, in Kent. We know that Nash first visited Dymchurch in 1920 (his earliest images of the place are the woodcuts Promenade No.1 and No.2, both dated 1920). In 1921 he went to live there and stayed for four years. On the basis of this, and other evidence from exhibition catalogues and so on, it seems likely that this poster dates from 1920. Nash was a member of the Friday Club (established by Vanessa Bell in 1905) from 1913 until 1922 (when it was disbanded).


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleThe Friday Club (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Lithograph on paper
Brief description
'The Friday Club', exhibition poster by Paul Nash, lithograph,, ca. 1920
Physical description
Portrait format poster printed in black on cream, lettered at the top with dates and 'The Friday Club' and below with exhibition details. The image in the centre is an abstracted view of the coast at Dymchurch.
Dimensions
  • Height: 76.5cm
  • Width: 51cm
Marks and inscriptions
  • 'Paul Nash' (Signed on the plate)
  • 'VINCINT BROOKS DAY & SON LTD, Lith. London W.C.' (details of printer)
Credit line
Purchased through the Julie and Robert Breckman Print Fund
Object history
This poster is extremely rare; it is not mentioned in Alexander Postan, The Complete Graphic Works of Paul Nash (London, 1973). It is undated, but the image is a version of Nash's characteristic view of the coast at Dymchurch, in Kent. We know that Nash first visited Dymchurch in 1920 (his earliest images of the place are the woodcuts Promenade No.1 and No.2, both dated 1920. Nash went to live in Dymchurch in 1921 and stayed for four years. He was a member of the Friday Club (established by Vanessa Bell in 1905) from 1913 until 1922 (when it was disbanded) and produced at least one other poster for a Friday Club exhibition, held at the Mansard Gallery at Heal's in Tottenham Court Road, which is dated 1921 (a copy is in the V&A collection, E.238-1980, given by Heal & Son Ltd.). The history of the Friday Club is shadowy because no minutes of its meetings exist and not all of its exhibition catalogues have been traced. There is evidence (in the form of catalogues and/or posters) for Friday Club exhibitions in 1905, 1907, 1908, 1910-1918, 1921 and 1922 (according to the list compiled by Richard Shone*) so it would seem plausible, on the basis of this gap in the record - 1919 and 1920 - and the evidence linking Nash to Dymchurch, to surmise that the most likely date for the poster must be 1920, since the dates of the exhibitions in 1921 and 1922 do not match with the dates in this poster, and nor do the venues.

* Richard Shone, “The Friday Club” in The Burlington Magazine, vol.117, no.866 (May, 1975), pp.278-284.
Subjects depicted
Place depicted
Summary
This poster is one of at least two designed by Paul Nash (1889-1946) to advertise exhibitions of the Friday Club. It is undated, but the image is a version of Nash’s characteristic view of the coast at Dymchurch, in Kent. We know that Nash first visited Dymchurch in 1920 (his earliest images of the place are the woodcuts Promenade No.1 and No.2, both dated 1920). In 1921 he went to live there and stayed for four years. On the basis of this, and other evidence from exhibition catalogues and so on, it seems likely that this poster dates from 1920. Nash was a member of the Friday Club (established by Vanessa Bell in 1905) from 1913 until 1922 (when it was disbanded).
Collection
Accession number
E.3015-2007

About this object record

Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.

You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.

Suggest feedback

Record createdOctober 22, 2007
Record URL
Download as: JSON