Adelphi Gallery

The Adelphi was one of the first galleries in the UK to exhibit what we today call Modern Art. It was opened c. 1918 and run for some years by Francis Vane Phipson Rutter, (1876-1937) commonly referred to as Frank Rutter. Rutter was born in Putney, London the son of a successful solicitor. He worked as an art critic for The Sunday Times from 1903 a position that lasted until his demise. A champion of British and French modern art he founded the Allied Artists' Association in 1908 and soon after he became a supporter of Womens' Suffrage. From 1912 to 1917, he was the curator of Leeds City Art Gallery. Circa 1918 he opened the Adelphi Gallery at 9 Dukes Street in London's West End.

Rutter championed and exhibited young up-and-coming artists including Charles Ginner, Jacob Kramer, Edward Wadsworth and David Bomberg and in 1922 gave Ben Nicholson his first solo exhibition. By the mid-1920's Rutter had left the Adelphi and concentrated on his writing and journalism. He contributed articles to Burlington Magazine, Apollo, Studio Magazine, The Financial Times and The Times. The Adelphi also stocked and sold books by Wyndham Lewis, James Joyce, T. S. Eliot and Ezra Pound. Other artists known to have exhibited at the Adelphi included Gaudier-Brzeska an Karl Hagedorn. When the Adelphi eventually ceased as a gallery is unknown to me. Further information would be appreciated. This gallery should not be confused with the New Adelphi Gallery part of the University of Salford and a similarly named organisation in New York. Frank Rutter died at his home in Golders Green.

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