Institute of Contemporary Arts

The Institute was founded in 1947 with the exploration of new developments in art as its central aim. It was set up in a small office in Charlotte Street, London, and its chief proponents were Eric Gregory, Peter Norton, Roland Penrose, Herbert Read and Peter Watson. In 1950 the Institute was moved to a first-floor gallery in Dover Street, but by 1968 it had outgrown this space and was moved to Nash House, Carlton House Terrace in the Mall. Its first exhibition, entitled "Forty Years of Modem Art", consisted of Surrealist and abstract paintings and sculpture, and was held in 1948 in the basement of the Academy Cinema in Oxford Street. This was followed by a more ambitious exhibition entitled Forty Thousand Years of Modem Art, which had as its theme the development of art from its prehistoric and tribal origins through to modernism. The Independent Group, which included artists, architects and art critics, met for discussion at the Institute during the 1950’s. The ICA has been involved with all facets of the arts since its inception, including lectures, dance performances and film seasons. The focus remains on current artistic movements, experiments and development in the arts, rather than retrospective or historical exhibitions. The Tate Archive holds the archive of the ICA from 1947 to 1987.

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