Art identity migration: 1933 to 2015: hidden narratives of Hitler émigré artists and designers in Britain, centred on the Ben Uri Gallery and Museum, London

This PhD by Publication comprises a critical commentary and a portfolio of 24 published texts by the author, primarily of publications accompanying exhibitions, invited peer reviewed chapters, and journal articles. The original research foregrounds the work and experiences of previously neglected Jewish and non-Jewish émigré artists, academics, and designers who sought refuge in Britain during the 1930s and 1940s, following the rise of Nazism in Europe, and is centred around the Ben Uri Gallery and Museum’s art collection and archives (previously the Ben Uri Gallery: The London Jewish Museum of Art and originally founded in 1915 as the Ben Uri Art Society, in the wake of the first cohort of Jewish migration). Research into Ben Uri’s archives and permanent collection, primarily undertaken from 2003 onwards, led to the realisation around 2008 – of what had lain hidden in plain sight – that around two thirds of the permanent collection was created by immigrants, representing a trans-national contribution extending the canon of 20th century British art.

The critical commentary identifies the significance of each publication in terms of the diverse works produced by these differently situated émigrés, the particular individual and/or collective challenges they faced, both before and after migration (including internment, and those based on gender, such as the triple whammy of being, a Jewish, female, refugee); various formal and informal support networks; the impact on artistic work (both positive and negative), and particular issues surrounding loss of identity. Research in Ben Uri archives and collection has been augmented by enquiries into private collections and archives and via interviews, particularly with descendants/legacy holders.

Overall, the portfolio reveals both the hitherto unrecognised institutional role that Ben Uri played in supporting émigrés from 1933 onwards, and the identity of a number of these figures, serving to demonstrate the agency which existed within marginalised communities to create their own histories. In the current 21st century context of unprecedented migration, these themes have a particular significance and resonance.