A Waterhouse & Dodd online exhibition of drawings inspired by Michelangelo’s Sistine Ceiling by former President of The London Group, Dorothy Mead (1928-1975).
The exhibition includes a selection of newly discovered paintings and drawings from the Dorothy Mead Estate
Dorothy Mead – Re-Making Michelangelo online exhibition 25 Oct – 22 Nov 2024
Exhibition Catalogue
“In the Summer of 1960 Dorothy Mead, a follower of David Bomberg and a leading figure of the Borough Group, set about re-interpreting some of the figures from Michelangelo’s Sistine Ceiling. Dorothy was to die at the age of just 47 and left few records other than her paintings and drawings. But in 1960 she was just 32 years old and close to the height of her powers, living in a flat at 52 St Mark’s Road, a Bohemian and faintly run-down street in North Kensington. From an early age she had built up a pantheon of the great artists among whom Michelangelo was one she respected most – for his drawing, his use of colour, for the sheer weight of his figures – and on her bookshelves she had a copy of Ludwig Goldscheider’s comprehensive survey of the artist. Meanwhile, in the flat above lived a young man, John Hall, who often agreed to act as a model for Dorothy. In the stifling heat of August 1960 in London (the temperature was recorded at around 85°F / 30°C for most of the month), with her copy of Goldscheider in front of her, Dorothy arranged John in the poses of the various Ignudi from the Sistine Ceiling and produced a group of powerful and highly original charcoal drawings.
“These works form the core of our exhibition, along with other paintings and drawings from the collection of the artist’s family that have remained unseen since the artist’s death.”
Waterhouse & Dodd
Dorothy Mead and The London Group
Mead joined The London Group in 1960 and served as President of the Group from 1971 to 1973.
“Dorothy Mead: The London Group’s first woman president” by London Group Archivist David Redfern