1950s Art: Top Artists, Styles And Trends

Festival of Britain optimism, contemporary pattern, and abstract expressionism at its peak.

Below: the artists of the 1950s, 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 1950 Look back to 1951 Look back to 1952

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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.

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Artists of the 1950s

  • Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko, the height of abstract expressionism.
  • Lucian Freud, painting the first of the unsparing portraits.
  • Peter Blake and Richard Hamilton, laying the ground for pop art.
  • Barbara Hepworth in St Ives, now internationally known.
  • Lucienne Day, whose Calyx textile (1951) changed British furnishing.
  • Abram Games, the poster designer behind the Festival of Britain emblem.

Styles and movements

  • Contemporary style: atomic motifs, spindly legs, bright pattern on pale grounds.
  • Abstract expressionism, and the beginnings of a British answer to it.
  • The Festival of Britain look - science, pattern and optimism.
  • Kitchen sink painting, the visual parallel to kitchen sink drama.
  • Mid-century modern design coming in from Scandinavia and America.

Art and design trends

  • The Festival of Britain in 1951 sells modern design to a public tired of austerity.
  • The Design Council pushes good design into shops and schools.
  • Colour printing gets cheap, so magazines and posters get brighter.
  • Television begins competing with the poster for the public's eye.
  • Art schools expand and start taking working-class students in numbers.

On the walls at home

  • Contemporary wallpaper on one wall and plain on the other three.
  • The flying ducks, and Tretchikoff's Chinese Girl on the chimney breast.
  • Formica, boomerang patterns and pale wood.
  • Framed prints bought from Boots, which sold pictures as well as pills.

Years covered in the 1950s

  • 1950 - Petrol came off the ration, the Festival of Britain was being built and there was no chart yet. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1950
  • 1951 - The Festival of Britain, a Conservative return and still no singles chart. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1951
  • 1952 - A new Queen, the Great Smog and the first ever singles chart in November. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1952
  • 1953 - The coronation, Everest, the Matthews final and sweets off the ration. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1953
  • 1954 - Rationing finally ended and Roger Bannister ran a mile in under four minutes. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1954
  • 1955 - ITV launched, rock and roll arrived and Britain got its first television adverts. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1955
  • 1956 - Suez, Elvis arriving in the chart and the start of skiffle. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1956
  • 1957 - You've never had it so good, the Munich disaster still to come and skiffle everywhere. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1957
  • 1958 - Munich, the first motorway and Cliff Richard's 'Move It'. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1958
  • 1959 - The Mini, the M1 and the last year before the sixties. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-1959
  • That is every 1950s year we have written up so far: 1950 to 1959.

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 1950 turns 50 in 2000, 60 in 2010 and 70 in 2020.

Shop prints and posters

Found your words? Now find the card

Shop prints and posters Look back to 1950 Look back to 1951 Look back to 1952

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 1950s?

Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko, the height of abstract expressionism. The full list above names the artists worth knowing from the decade.

What art styles were popular in the 1950s?

Contemporary style: atomic motifs, spindly legs, bright pattern on pale grounds. The styles section above covers the rest of the movements.

What art did people have in their homes in the 1950s?

Contemporary wallpaper on one wall and plain on the other three. 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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