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Wyndham Lewis was a novelist, critic, and a predominant experimental artist who
founded Vorticism, an early 20th century English abstract art movement. Lewis
was
born November 18, 1882, near Amherst, Nova Scotia, Canada, to Captain Charles
Edward
Lewis of New York and Anne Stuart (née Prickett) Lewis of England. In 1893, his
parents separated,
and he moved with his mother to London. At the age of sixteen, Lewis enrolled
in the
Slade School of Art, where he spent the next three years studying. Following his
formal education, Lewis left for the continent; between 1901 and 1909 he spent
most
of his time in France, but also traveled in Germany, Spain, and Holland. |
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Lewis returned to England in 1909, and that same year saw three of his stories
published in the English Review. Subsequent to the
publication of these stories, Lewis joined the literary circle of Ford Madox
Hueffer, later known as Ford Madox Ford. While pursuing his literary career, Lewis
continued to produce visual works of art. In 1911, his drawings were exhibited
with
the Camden Town Group, and in 1912 he had works in the Post-Impressionist exhibition
organized by Roger Fry. The following year, Lewis joined Roger Fry's Omega workshop,
only to split from the group later that same year. In 1913, Lewis also took part
in
Frank Rutter's Post-Impressionist and Futurist exhibition, and in an exhibition
with
the London Group. |
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In 1914, Lewis founded his own group, the Rebel Art Centre, and its movement,
Vorticism (named by Ezra Pound). In 1914 and 1915, Lewis published the only two
issues of the Vorticist review, Blast. During this
time he was mainly associated with such figures as Richard Aldington,
Gaudier-Brzeska, Ezra Pound, William Roberts, and Edward Wadsworth. |
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Lewis served in World War I. His first novel, Tarr,
was published in 1918. In 1919, he attempted to revive Vorticism under the name
X
Group, which held one exhibition in 1920. After this time, Lewis was not connected
with any art groups, but he continued exhibiting his work, in addition to publishing
books and articles. He spent the years of World War II in the United States and
Canada, but returned to England in 1945. In 1946, he became the art critic of
the
Listener. Wyndham Lewis died March 7, 1957, in
London. |