The Long Weekend: Britain Between the Wars
A brave new world of Art Deco and elegant optimism or a grim pause before the killing began again? How did artists and designers in Britain help to shape society in the period between 1918 and 1939?
The Long Weekend charts the direction taken by the arts, and particularly by architecture and the decorative arts. Students study the contributions made by emigrés like Erich Mendelsohn, Berthold Lubetkin and Amyas Connell, and by society decorators including Sybil Colefax, John Fowler and Basil Ionides. But the course also attempts to answer questions about Britain’s uneasy relationship with Modernism, while exploring the cultural impact of major historical events such as the Irish War of Independence and the Abdication Crisis. There will be field trips to several important landmarks of the period, which we hope will include Upton House, Eltham Palace and the De La Warr Pavilion.
Studies
Throughout the course, you engage in the study of visual material, documents and artifacts. By the end of the sessions, you will have acquired an understanding of the following:
- Major changes in British artistic and architectural taste between 1918 and 1939
- Modernism and the ways in which it manifested itself in architecture and design, and also in the fine arts, literature and music
- Art Deco and its relationship to Modernism
- Key trends and events in British society 1918–1939
- The role of the decorator in shaping British taste during the period
Teaching methods usually consist of informal group discussion. At least three tutor-led field trips form an essential part of your work.
If you would like to begin work on your assignment before arriving in Oxford, or have any questions about course preparation, please call or e-mail me.
Course Requirements
There is one written assignment of approximately 1500 words, and one oral assignment to last no more than five minutes.
Tutor Biography
Adrian Tinniswood works with heritage institutions such as the National Trust and the Heritage Lottery Fund, and at English and American universities. He is the author of 12 books on architectural and social history including The Polite Tourist: Four Centuries of Country House Visiting and His Invention So Fertile: A Life of Christopher Wren.
Tutor Contact Details:
Adrian Tinniswood, M Phil
18 Carlingcott, Peasedown St John, Bath BA2 8AN
Tel: +44 1761 432685
Email: adrian.tinniswood@ukgateway.net
Web: www.adriantinniswood.co.uk
Reading List
There is no set text for this course; however, because class participation is important, please familiarize yourself with key events in British history between 1918 and 1939, and come with some ideas about British society in the period.
Some of the following works might help, but you do not need to bring any of them to Oxford:
Clive Aslet, The Last Country Houses, (Yale UP, 1985).
Cecil Beaton, The Wandering Years: Diaries 1922-1939, (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1961).
Charlotte Benton et al, Art Deco: 1910-1939, (Bulfinch, 2003).
Diana Cooper, Autobiography, (Faber, 2008).
Roy Hattersley, Borrowed Time: The Story of Britain Between the Wars, (Abacus, 2009).
Aldous Huxley, Brave New World, (various editions).
Aldous Huxley, Crome Yellow, (various editions).
C. Jones, Colefax & Fowler: The Best in English Interior Decoration, (Bulfinch Press, 2000).
Daphne du Maurier, Rebecca, (various editions).
Alan Powers, Modern: The Modern Movement in Britain, (Merrell, 2007).
Martin Pugh, We Danced All Night: A Social History of Britain Between the Wars, (Vintage, 2009).
Evelyn Waugh, Brideshead Revisited, (various editions).
Martin Wood, John Fowler: Prince of Decorators, (Frances Lincoln, 2007).
Field Trips
Three full-day outings to landmark buildings of the interwar period such as Upton House, Eltham Palace and the De La Warr Pavilion. (This list is not yet finalized.)
Credit and Enrollment Information
X415 History
(EDP 284208)