Speed and Flight

Speed and Flight
Sybil Andrews
Speedway 1934
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki
gift of Rex Nan Kivell, 1953

Exhibition Details

One of the most remarkable episodes in British printmaking is the rise of the humble linocut in the 1930s. English artist and teacher Claude Flight championed the linocut and in the process attracted many talented students to his classes at London's Grosvenor School of Modern Art. Speed & Flight includes the works of his most gifted students – artists such as Cyril E Power and Sybil Andrews, Ethel Spowers and Lill Tschudi.

With their bold colours and dynamic rhythms, these colour linocuts showing commuter-filled escalators and whizzing rollercoasters vividly evoke the speed and movement of the modern machine age. Flight and his followers combined the bright colours, geometric forms and rhythmic vitality of Art Deco with Italian Futurism's need for speed. Speed & Flight reveals how the group captured a sense movement through the themes of a city's energy, physical work, sport and leisure.

A democratic medium for the modern age, Flight argued that the group's linocuts should be sold for no more than the price paid 'by the average man for his daily beer or his cinema ticket'. First exhibited at London's Redfern Gallery in the late 1920s and designed to fit on an inner-city apartment wall, these artworks soon found their way into the collections of major public museums.

New Zealander Sir Rex Nan Kivell gifted these artworks to Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki in 1953, and they are part of a much larger collection of art by leading British modernists.

Image: Sybil Andrews, Speedway, 1934, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, gift of Rex Nan Kivell, 1953

Date
Curated by
Julia Waite
Location
Level 1
Cost
Free entry

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Swings
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Ethel Spowers

Production date
1932
Medium
linocut
Size (h x w)
242 x 263 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, gift of Rex Nan Kivell, 1953
Accession no
1953/2/131
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Ploughing
Ploughing

Ethel Spowers

Production date
1933
Medium
linocut
Size (h x w)
208 x 315 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, gift of Rex Nan Kivell, 1953
Accession no
1953/2/133
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Harvest
Harvest

Ethel Spowers

Production date
1932
Medium
linocut
Size (h x w)
178 x 283 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, gift of Rex Nan Kivell, 1953
Accession no
1953/2/134
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Wet Afternoon
Wet Afternoon

Ethel Spowers

Production date
1930
Medium
linocut
Size (h x w)
240 x 202 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, gift of Rex Nan Kivell, 1953
Accession no
1953/2/136
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Fixing the Wires
Fixing the Wires

Lill Tschudi

Production date
1932
Medium
linocut
Size (h x w)
331 x 233 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, gift of Mr Nan-Kivell, 1953
Accession no
1953/2/139
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Sledging
Sledging

Lill Tschudi

Production date
1931
Medium
linocut
Size (h x w)
285 x 220 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, gift of Rex Nan Kivell, 1953
Accession no
1953/2/141
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Gymnastic Exercises
Gymnastic Exercises

Lill Tschudi

Production date
1931
Medium
colour linocut
Size (h x w)
265 x 201 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, gift of Rex Nan Kivell, 1953
Accession no
1953/2/142
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Just Off
Just Off

Lill Tschudi

Production date
1932
Medium
linocut
Size (h x w)
230 x 249 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, gift of Rex Nan Kivell, 1953
Accession no
1953/2/144
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Ice Hockey
Ice Hockey

Lill Tschudi

Production date
1933
Medium
linocut
Size (h x w)
303 x 316 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, gift of Rex Nan Kivell, 1953
Accession no
1953/2/145
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The Giant Cable
The Giant Cable

Sybil Andrews

Production date
1931
Medium
linocut
Size (h x w)
400 x 511 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, gift of Rex Nan Kivell, 1953
Accession no
1953/2/146
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Haulers
Haulers

Sybil Andrews

Production date
1929
Medium
linocut
Size (h x w)
225 x 356 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, gift of Rex Nan Kivell, 1953
Accession no
1953/2/147
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Not on display

The Wind-Mill
The Wind-Mill

Sybil Andrews

Production date
1933
Medium
colour linocut
Size (h x w)
386 x 260 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, gift of Rex Nan Kivell, 1953
Accession no
1953/2/148
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Speedway
Speedway

Sybil Andrews

Production date
1934
Medium
linocut
Size (h x w)
389 x 263 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, gift of Rex Nan Kivell, 1953
Accession no
1953/2/151
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Not on display

In Full Cry
In Full Cry

Sybil Andrews

Production date
1931
Medium
linocut
Size (h x w)
332 x 489 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, gift of Rex Nan Kivell, 1953
Accession no
1953/2/153
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The Gale
The Gale

Sybil Andrews

Production date
1930
Medium
linocut
Size (h x w)
260 x 316 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, gift of Rex Nan Kivell, 1953
Accession no
1953/2/154
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Not on display

Michaelmas
Michaelmas

Sybil Andrews

Production date
1935
Medium
linocut
Size (h x w)
386 x 263 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, gift of Rex Nan Kivell, 1953
Accession no
1953/2/156
View Artwork

Not on display

Bringing in the Boat
Bringing in the Boat

Sybil Andrews

Production date
1933
Medium
colour linocut
Size (h x w)
382 x 304 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, gift of Rex Nan Kivell, 1953
Accession no
1953/2/157
View Artwork

Not on display

The Tube Station
The Tube Station

Cyril Power

Production date
circa 1932
Medium
linocut
Size (h x w)
293 x 335 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, gift of Rex Nan Kivell, 1953
Accession no
1953/2/160
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Not on display

'Appy 'Ampstead
'Appy 'Ampstead

Cyril Power

Production date
circa 1933
Medium
colour linocut
Size (h x w)
382 x 314 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, gift of Rex Nan Kivell, 1953
Accession no
1953/2/162
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Not on display

The Eight
The Eight

Cyril Power

Production date
1930
Medium
linocut
Size (h x w)
383 x 262 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, gift of Rex Nan Kivell, 1953
Accession no
1953/2/163
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Not on display

Speed Trial
Speed Trial

Cyril Power

Production date
circa 1932
Medium
colour linocut
Size (h x w)
256 x 444 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, gift of Rex Nan Kivell, 1953
Accession no
1953/2/166
View Artwork

Not on display

Whence and Whither
Whence and Whither

Cyril Power

Production date
circa 1930
Medium
linocut
Size (h x w)
360 x 278 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, gift of Rex Nan Kivell, 1953
Accession no
1953/2/167
View Artwork

Not on display

The Tube Staircase
The Tube Staircase

Cyril Power

Production date
1929
Medium
linocut
Size (h x w)
517 x 320 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, gift of Rex Nan Kivell, 1953
Accession no
1953/2/168
View Artwork

Not on display

Night Fishing
Night Fishing

Margaret Barnard

Production date
circa 1933
Medium
linocut
Size (h x w)
268 x 289 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, gift of Rex Nan Kivell, 1953
Accession no
1953/2/186
View Artwork

Not on display

Policeman in a snowstorm
Policeman in a snowstorm

Claude Flight

Production date
1922
Medium
colour linocut
Size (h x w)
164 x 213 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, purchased 1985
Accession no
1985/28
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The Switch-back
The Switch-back

Kittie Roberts

Production date
1933
Medium
linocut
Size (h x w)
223 x 195 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, gift of Rex Nan Kivell, 1953
Accession no
1953/2/200
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Rhythm
Rhythm

William Greengrass

Production date
1933
Medium
colour linocut
Size (h x w)
263 x 310 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, gift of Rex Nan Kivell 1953
Accession no
1953/2/121
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Not on display

Air Raid
Air Raid

Cyril Power

Production date
circa 1935
Medium
linocut
Size (h x w)
352 x 328 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, gift of Rex Nan Kivell, 1953
Accession no
1953/2/161
View Artwork

Not on display

The Giant Stride
The Giant Stride

Ethel Spowers

Production date
1933
Medium
colour linocut
Size (h x w)
296 x 381 mm
Credit line
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, gift of Rex Nan Kivell, 1953
Accession no
1953/2/132