Herbert Read

Herbert Read was a British poet, literary and art critic, teacher, and one of the most prominent figures on the British art scene of the1920s–1950s. As a critic, he introduced British and European readers to the works of Henry Moore, Ben Nicholson, and Barbara Hepworth. He was the editor of the influential Burlington Magazine (1933–1938), one of the organizers of the 1936 London International Surrealist Exhibition, and the editor of the book Surrealism, published the same year and which included texts by Breton, Éluard, and Georges Hugnet. He also worked as a trustee of the Tate Gallery and a curator at the Victoria & Albert Museum (1922–1939). In 1947 he co-founded the London Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) with Roland Penrose and became its first president.