The London Bulletin No. 8–9, January–February 1939 — Living Art in England

Selected by our friends at CAREFULLY CURATED, presented in collaboration with Stop & Read.

A window into the artists, ideas, and exchanges shaping modern art in Britain on the eve of the Second World War. This January–February 1939 double issue of The London Bulletin, Living Art in England, brings exhibition material, criticism, poetry, and images together across 64 pages.

Edited by E. L. T. Mesens and published by The London Gallery, the issue includes Herbert Read’s “In what sense ‘living’?”, Ruthven Todd’s “Drawings for ‘Guernica’,” Roland Penrose’s “The road is wider than long,” and contributions by Marcel Mariën, Ainslie Ellis, Robert Melville, Parker Tyler, and Jean Scutenaire. Its contents also include the Living Art in England exhibition catalogue and a response to the Max Ernst exhibition.

Published between 1938 and 1940, The London Bulletin became an important meeting place for British Surrealism and the wider avant-garde. Its short run brought art, poetry, and debate into the same pages. This double issue offers a collectible document of that exchange, with texts in English and French.

• Title: The London Bulletin No. 8–9 — Living Art in England / L’Art vivant en Angleterre
• Editor: E. L. T. Mesens
• Publisher: The London Gallery, London
• Publication date: January–February 1939
• Format: Softcover periodical, double issue
• Pages: 64
• Languages: English and French
• Condition: Good