Naum Gabo, Construction in Space: Suspended, c. 1970s, Perspex, stainless steel spring-wire, phosphor-bronze cradle, on aluminium base
with visitors whom he welcomed for many years.
Ultimately, he gifted both his home and the works
of art within it to the University of Cambridge, thus
ensuring its survival and legacy.
In this exhibition, we have included paintings,
sculpture and prints by many of the artists
represented in the museum, artists that the gallery
has for decades exhibited. Kettle's Yard have been
enormously supportive throughout and have
generously permitted loans of an Alfred Wallis
and the iconic Gaudier-Brzeska Bird Swallowing a
Fish. I am indebted to many of the staff at Kettle's
Yard for their assistance but particularly to Andrew
Nairne, the Director and Dr Inga Fraser, the Senior
Curator, for their enthusiasm and support from the
very beginning.
It is impossible for a private gallery to curate an
exhibition of this depth without the generous
support of friends of the gallery who have loaned
their treasures and family heirlooms, some of which
have not been seen publicly for many years. I am
also once again grateful to Dr Judith LeGrove who
has collaborated throughout the planning stages
for this exhibition and assessed a considerable
archive of material. She has written the extensive
introduction and essays on the artists.
Ways of Life: Jim Ede and the Kettle's Yard Artists by
Laura Freeman, was published by Jonathan Cape, 2023,
and provides an excellent overview of Ede's life.
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