Roland Penrose

Roland Penrose was a central figure in the emergence of surrealism in Britain during the 1930s. A trained architect, he began painting full time and, and when living in France between 1922 and 1936, met leading figures of the Surrealist movement including Picasso, Paul Éluard, and Max Ernst. Penrose was instrumental in organizing the 1936 International Surrealist Exhibition held at the New Burlington Galleries in London; a key moment that significantly shaped the British art scene for the next decade. A keen collector, Penrose played a critical role in the creation of the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) in London, which he co-founded in 1947.