East London Group

This little-known art club or society was founded in 1925 by John Cooper, who was a friend of Sickert and its first President. Its other members included Elwin Hawthorne and brothers Harold and Walter Steggles and William Coldstream who exhibited with the club in 1930. The first exhibition of the East London Art Club, as the group was initially known, was held at the Whitechapel Art Gallery in 1928. The following year saw the group transfer to the Lefevre Gallery in King Street, St. James's where they regularly showed until 1936, in addition to holding solo exhibitions for members. The group appears to have disbanded prior to the outbreak of World War II. There were several "Lesser" members of the group who only occasionally exhibited mainly at the Lefevre Gallery. These were Hannah Cohen, E. J. King, G.C. McCarthy, Patrick Murphy, B. Nelson Parker, M. G. Pole, Eunice Veitch, Maurice Shaer. As yet no information of any significance has come to light.

The East End Academy is often referred to when mentioning the East London Group. It was an exhibition that started in 1932 at the Whitechapel Art Gallery where it continues to be held today. It was open to anyone who lived or worked in the East End of London, be they amateur or professional artists. In the modern era film, video, and installations form much of the exhibits in the now very much up-market area. During the 1970's the then Director of the Whitechapel, Nicholas Serota renamed it the Whitechapel Open. The Beecroft Art Gallery held a Group exhibition in the spring of 2016.