Cultural enrichment from outside

For the last day of my short post-Easter break I've been at Tate Britain to see the Migrations and Picasso and Modern British Art exhibitions.
Migrations: Journeys into British Art explores British art through the theme of migration from 1500 to the present day, reflecting the remit of Tate Britain Collection displays. From the sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Flemish and Dutch landscape and still-life painters who came to Britain in search of new patrons, through moments of political and religious unrest, to Britain’s current position within the global landscape, the exhibition reveals how British art has been fundamentally shaped by successive waves of migration.

Picasso and Modern British Art explores Picasso's extensive legacy and influence on British art, how this played a role in the acceptance of modern art in Britain, alongside the fascinating story of Picasso’s lifelong connections to and affection for this country. It offers the rare opportunity to see celebrated artworks by Picasso alongside seven of his most brilliant British admirers, exploring the huge impact he had on their art: Duncan Grant, Wyndham Lewis, Ben Nicholson, Henry Moore, Francis Bacon, Graham Sutherland and David Hockney.

Nicholas Cranfield reviews both in the current edition of the Church Times arguing that they are two mag­nificent shows celebrating the very best of British art, with a strong reminder that it is often foreign-bred or in­fluenced by life on mainland Europe:

"So much cultural en­richment has come from outside that we would be foolish not to recognise its value. In which direction would British art have gone without Holbein and Lely or Kauffmann and Singer Sargent?

Like the exhibition “Migrations”, [Picasso and Modern British Art], too, provides viewers with a new way of looking at familiar art, and in several cases provided a real oppor­tunity for a rethink. It would be unfair to claim that Picasso alone stirred British art from the lethargy of the Edwardian salon, but the effect of his work’s becoming known after 1910, thanks to Roger Fry, is difficult to underestimate."

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U2 - The Hands That Built America.