Unit One

This was a short-lived group formed in 1933 by Paul Nash to bring together artists and designers who expressed a 'truly contemporary spirit' and were driven by an awareness of the 'true function of the arts'. In a letter he addressed to the Editor of The Time on 2 June 1933, he gave the 'headquarters' of Unit One as The Mayor Gallery, Cork Street, Bond Street, London, and the members as the architects' Wells Coates and Colin Lucas; the sculptors' Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth; and the painters Edward Wadsworth, Ben Nicholson, Paul Nash, Edward Burra, John Bigge, John Armstrong and Frances Hodgkins. However, by 1934, Hodgkins had resigned from the group and had been replaced by the painter Tristram Hillier. Unit One held only one exhibition in London - at Mayor Gallery in April 1934. This was followed by a provincial tour of six centres outside the city between May 1934 and April 1935 - Liverpool, Manchester, Henley, Derby, Swansea and Belfast. Not long after the Belfast show the group disbanded due mainly it is said to disagreements among its members.

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