Campbell, Louise (2012) Surrealism, domesticity and subversion : Eileen Agar at home. Interiors: Design, Architecture and Culture, Volume 3 (Number 3). pp. 227-246.

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Abstract

This article examines the work of Eileen Agar, one of several women to participate in the 1936 London International Surrealist Exhibition, as a patron of modern design and an originator of remarkable assemblages, costumes, and interiors. In 1932, Agar, a wealthy, Slade-trained painter and patron of the arts, took possession of a London studio flat remodeled for her by the architect Rodney Thomas. This place - customized by Agar later that decade - was instrumental in Herbert Read's decision to include her in the exhibition. The decor of Agar's studio flat, with its dense mosaic of images and objects, contrasted with approaches to interior decoration in 1930s England and embodied a critique of both old and new modes of domesticity. This article suggests that the domestic interior, with its Victorian associations of privacy and family life, a place redolent of hidden secrets, was of great interest to English Surrealists. It also explores the ways in which Agar - an upper-class beauty whose participation in the Surrealist exhibition fascinated the press - deftly took advantage of the publicity she attracted in order to parody the preoccupation of the contemporary debutante and society hostess with furnishing, dress, and entertaining, and to provide a subversive reconfiguration of it.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Subjects:	N Fine Arts > NK Decorative arts Applied arts Decoration and ornament
Divisions:	Faculty of Arts > History of Art
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Agar, Eileen, 1899 -- Criticism and interpretation, Surrealism -- Great Britain, Arts, Modern -- 20th century, Interior decoration -- English influences, Interior decoration -- Great Britain, Thomas, Rodney M. (Rodney Meredith) 1902-1996 -- Criticism and interpretation, Architecture -- Great Britain -- History -- 20th century, Fashion design -- Great Britain
Journal or Publication Title:	Interiors: Design, Architecture and Culture
Publisher:	Berg Publishers
ISSN:	2041-9120
Official Date:	November 2012
Dates:	Date Event November 2012 Published
Date of first compliant deposit:	1 August 2016
Volume:	Volume 3
Number:	Number 3
Page Range:	pp. 227-246
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Publication Status:	Published
Access rights to Published version:	Restricted or Subscription Access

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