ZWEMMER GALLERY
Zwemmer Gallery was established by Dutch-born Anton Zwemmer (1892–1979) who, around 1922 purchased a bookstore on Charing Cross Road from his employer, Richard Jäschke, and modified its profile to specialize in art and modern literature and opened, as an annexe to his bookshop, at 26 Litchfield Street. When the gallery first opened in 1929 it was one of a handful of venues in London that promoted the international avant-garde. It was managed by Robert Wellington who had been persuaded by Victor Pasmore (1908-1998) to mount an exhibition of work by artists associated with the Central School of Arts and Crafts, and it was at the second exhibition in 1931 that Charles Robert Owen Medley (1905-1994) and William Coldstream made their debuts. An interesting gallery exhibition was 'Objective Abstractions' in 1934 which included work by Frank Graham Bell (1910-1943), Rodrigo Moynihan (1910-1990), Ivon Hitchens, Victor Pasmore (1908-1998) and Ceri Geraldus Richards (1903-1971). In 1935 the gallery was the venue for the final exhibition of the Seven and Five Society of Artists, this was the first all abstract exhibition to be held in Britain and included works by John Egerton Christmas Piper (1903-1992) and Winifred Nicholson (1893-1981). During the mid-1930's the gallery also showed works by Picasso, de Chirico, Miró and the first British solo exhibition of Surrealist Salvador Dali. After the Second World War, Zwemmer Gallery re-opened in 1947 when Anton Zwemmer's two sons, John and Desmond joined their father in running the business which in 1949, was renamed A. Zwemmer Ltd. In 1954 artist Michael Chase was appointed as a full-time gallery manager a post he held until the gallery closed its door in 1968. Suffolk artists who exhibited at the Zwemmer include Arthur Merric Bloomfield Boyd, John Reginald Brunsdon, Peter Coker, Colin Moss, John Scorror O'Connor and Valerie Thornton.