Axis and authentic abstraction in 1930s England

This thesis questions the canon that has presented English modem art in the 1930s as
non-figurative abstraction, represented by those English artists gathered under the
collective constructivist ideals of Circle. It seeks to establish that before its
publication, the abstract art review Axis (1935-37) provided the discursive space in
which its English artists and writers evolved a belief that non-figurative abstraction
was irreconcilable with English cultural attitudes towards artistic expression. This
thesis refutes criticisms of regression and compromise levelled at Axis's regard for
history and popular culture, and seeks to establish that the resistance of its cohort to the
idealist programme of non-figurative abstraction signified their conviction that it was
the only means of developing an authentic English modem art practice