Kensal House, London
About this artwork
Kensal House, designed by the British architect Maxwell Fry, was funded by the Gas Light and Coke Company for working-class tenants. It was one of the few modernist housing blocks of the period not occupied by the middle classes. Built on the site of a former gasometer, it incorporated a light-filled, semi-circular kindergarten within the shadow of the flats. Tudor-Hart was commissioned to photograph the new building extensively, working with the help of her younger brother, Wolfgang Suschitzky. Its architecture embodied the principles of low-cost, integrated living (deemed particularly important for young children) espoused by Bauhaus architects. As this photograph suggests, for Tudor-Hart Kensal House was very much a model environment.
Updated before 2020
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artist:Edith Tudor-HartAustrian (1908 - 1973)
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title:Kensal House, London
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date created:Photographed about 1938
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printed by:Owen LoganScottish (born 1963)
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materials:Gelatin silver print
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measurements:30.30 x 29.80 cm
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object type:
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credit line:Presented by Wolfgang Suschitzky 2004
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accession number:PGP 279.69B
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gallery:
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subject:
Edith Tudor-Hart
Edith Tudor-Hart
Edith Tudor-Hart, née Suschitzky, was one of the most significant documentary photographers working in Britain in the 1930s and 1940s. Born in Vienna, she grew up in radical Jewish circles. Edith married Alex Tudor-Hart, a British doctor, and the pair moved to England. There she worked as a...