1930s Art: Top Artists, Styles And Trends

Depression-era realism, British modernism at St Ives, and the poster as public art.

Below: the artists of the 1930s, the styles and movements, what was changing in art and design, and the pictures that were actually up in British homes.

Useful for a themed party, a quiz round, a reminiscence session or working out what someone grew up looking at.

Shop the cards that go with these

Shop prints and posters Look back to 1930 Look back to 1931 Look back to 1932

Art prints, cards and badges, drawn and printed by us

Original art prints, funny cards and pin badges, printed in the UK. Order on a working day and it usually goes out the same day.

Shop prints and posters

Artists of the 1930s

  • Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth, both finding their sculptural language.
  • Ben Nicholson, with the white reliefs from 1934.
  • Salvador Dali - The Persistence of Memory (1931).
  • Edward Hopper, painting American loneliness.
  • Frida Kahlo, largely unknown outside Mexico at the time.
  • Eric Ravilious, whose watercolours and wood engravings are the most English thing in the decade.

Styles and movements

  • Surrealism reaching Britain - the 1936 International Surrealist Exhibition in London.
  • Social realism and documentary art, driven by the Depression.
  • British modernism: abstraction, Hampstead, then Cornwall.
  • Streamline moderne - deco with the corners rounded off.
  • Mass Observation and the documentary photograph.

Art and design trends

  • Public art programmes: the American WPA, and in Britain, poster commissions from Shell and London Transport.
  • Modernist architecture arrives in Britain, mostly white, flat-roofed and controversial.
  • Artists fleeing Europe reshape British and American art from mid-decade.
  • Penguin Books (1935) makes good typography an everyday object.
  • Photography in magazines becomes the dominant popular image.

On the walls at home

  • Shell and London Transport posters, designed by artists and given away or sold cheaply.
  • Sunburst gates, stained glass ships and geometric lino in new suburban semis.
  • Reproduction prints from the department store - Constable, and 'The Boyhood of Raleigh'.
  • Radio sets as furniture, with veneer and deco grilles.

Years covered in the 1930s

  • 1930 - The R101 disaster, rising unemployment and Amy Johnson flying to Australia. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1930
  • 1931 - The National Government, the gold standard abandoned and the means test. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1931
  • 1932 - Broadcasting House opened, the Empire Service began and hunger marches reached London. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1932
  • 1933 - Bodyline, the first Loch Ness photograph and the opening of the Tube map. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1933
  • 1934 - Driving tests announced, Belisha beacons and the Queen Mary being built. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1934
  • 1935 - The Silver Jubilee, the first driving tests and the 30mph limit. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1935
  • 1936 - Three kings in one year, the Jarrow March, Butlin's and the first television service. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1936
  • 1937 - The coronation of George VI, the Hindenburg and the first Billy Butlin summer. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1937
  • 1938 - Munich, gas masks and the Holidays with Pay Act. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1938
  • 1939 - Evacuation, the blackout, the declaration of war and television going off air. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1939
  • That is every 1930s year we have written up so far: 1930 to 1939.

How to use this

  • Themed party: pick one style from the list and let it decide the colours, the lettering and the invitations.
  • Quiz round: read an artist and ask for the decade, or read a style and ask for one artist who worked in it.
  • Reminiscence: ask what picture hung over the fireplace when they were young. Nearly everybody remembers.
  • Anyone born in 1930 turns 50 in 1980, 60 in 1990 and 70 in 2000.

Shop prints and posters

Found your words? Now find the card

Shop prints and posters Look back to 1930 Look back to 1931 Look back to 1932

How to write it so it lands

  • What hung in galleries and what hung at home were two different decades. Both are on this page.
  • For a themed party, take the colour palette from the decade's design rather than its paintings.
  • Charity shops are still the best place to find genuine prints and frames from any era.

Where to shop next

Frequently asked questions

Who were the most important artists of the 1930s?

Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth, both finding their sculptural language. The full list above names the artists worth knowing from the decade.

What art styles were popular in the 1930s?

Surrealism reaching Britain - the 1936 International Surrealist Exhibition in London. The styles section above covers the rest of the movements.

What art did people have in their homes in the 1930s?

Shell and London Transport posters, designed by artists and given away or sold cheaply. The section above lists what was actually on British walls, which is rarely the same as what was in the galleries.

Do you sell fine art?

No. We make our own art prints, greeting cards and pin badges in the UK - original work, printed here. This page is free to read and free to copy.

Back to blog