Historical Context of United Kingdom
The UK has been a crucial centre for artistic production for centuries. While it accrued vast wealth from colonisation and the ascent of its Empire, it was also exposed to the cultural influences of other countries and continents. Throughout the contemporary period, Britain had been significantly eclipsed by the reputation of its European neighbours on one side, and of the United States on the other. But towards the end of the 19th century, Britain became an important hub in the development of the avant-garde. This includes the Arts and Crafts Movement, a major movement paving the way for artist-led organisations, groups and organisational co-operative types that would later develop into a template of sorts for bohemian artists movements of the Twentieth Century. Important artistic movements in British modernism include for example Vorticism, comprised of artists associated with the Bloomsbury group. Some significant British artists of the modern and contemporary period include Stanley Spencer, Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud, Leon Kossoff, Frank Auerbach, David Hockney, Bridget Riley, Paula Rego - and in more recent years the YBA generation led by Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin, Marc Quinn, Chris Ofili and others.