1940s Art: Top Artists, Styles And Trends

War artists, utility design and abstract expressionism arriving at the end.

Below: the artists of the 1940s, 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.

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Shop prints and posters Look back to 1940 Look back to 1941 Look back to 1942

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Artists of the 1940s

  • Henry Moore, whose shelter drawings are the images of the Blitz.
  • Graham Sutherland and Paul Nash, official war artists.
  • L. S. Lowry, painting industrial Salford.
  • Jackson Pollock, with the first drip paintings from 1947.
  • Francis Bacon - Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion (1944).
  • Eric Ravilious, lost on active service in 1942.

Styles and movements

  • War art: the official scheme recorded the home front as well as the fighting.
  • Neo-romanticism - dark, linear British landscape painting.
  • Utility design: rationed materials, no ornament, and surprisingly good results.
  • Abstract expressionism starting in New York, unknown in Britain until later.
  • Documentary photography as the defining image of the decade.

Art and design trends

  • The art market stops; galleries empty their walls and store the collections.
  • The Council for the Encouragement of Music and the Arts becomes the Arts Council in 1946.
  • New York replaces Paris as the centre of the art world.
  • Utility furniture and the Board of Trade mark shape what a British home looks like.
  • Post-war planning puts murals and public art into new schools and estates.

On the walls at home

  • Blackout everything, then years of make do and mend.
  • Government information posters as the most-seen graphic design in the country.
  • Utility furniture: plain, well made, and still in use decades later.
  • Family photographs and a calendar - decoration was not a priority.

Years covered in the 1940s

  • 1940 - Rationing, Dunkirk, Churchill and the Blitz - the year everything changed. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1940
  • 1941 - The Blitz continued, clothes went on the ration and America entered the war. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1941
  • 1942 - The Beveridge Report, soap on the ration and the first American troops arriving. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1942
  • 1943 - The tide turned, the Dambusters flew and the country got used to going without. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1943
  • 1944 - D-Day, the V-1s and the Education Act that changed school for everyone. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1944
  • 1945 - VE Day, VJ Day, a landslide election and street parties on bomb-damaged roads. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1945
  • 1946 - Television came back, bread went on the ration and the family allowance started. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1946
  • 1947 - The worst winter in memory, a royal wedding and Indian independence. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1947
  • 1948 - The NHS began, the Olympics came to London and the Windrush docked at Tilbury. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1948
  • 1949 - Clothes rationing ended, the pound was devalued and the decade closed on austerity. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1949
  • That is every 1940s year we have written up so far: 1940 to 1949.

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 1940 turns 50 in 1990, 60 in 2000 and 70 in 2010.

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Found your words? Now find the card

Shop prints and posters Look back to 1940 Look back to 1941 Look back to 1942

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 1940s?

Henry Moore, whose shelter drawings are the images of the Blitz. The full list above names the artists worth knowing from the decade.

What art styles were popular in the 1940s?

War art: the official scheme recorded the home front as well as the fighting. The styles section above covers the rest of the movements.

What art did people have in their homes in the 1940s?

Blackout everything, then years of make do and mend. 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.

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