Adventure in Art

Adventure in Art is the 1947 autobiography of one of the key female protagonists from the British Modernist era - Lucy Carrington Wertheim. Republished by Unicorn to coincide with the forthcoming Towner exhibition Lucy Wertheim: Patron, Collector and Gallerist (Summer 2022), this book brings to a contemporary audience the trials and tribulations of a key participant in the male dominated art world of the 1920s and 30s. Lucy Carrington Wertheim's discerning eye and steely business acumen helped to propel big names such as Christopher Wood, Alfred Wallis, Cedric Morris, Henry Moore and Feliks Topolski into the mainstream. With two commissioned essays - the first by Frances Spalding (The British Art Scene in the 1930s) and the second by Ariane Banks and James Scott (Female Collectors, Dealers and Gallerists) - plus an introduction by Towner curator Karen Taylor, this new edition not only brings Lucy Carrington Wertheim's words and deeds back into our conscience, but it also publishes over 80 artworks featured in the Towner exhibition, as well as newly photographed ephemera from the Estate's extensive archive. Together, this exhibition and book will significantly reset the accepted narrative, and shine a light on a neglected corner of mid-twentieth century art history.