Fry’s Popular Delights at The Fry Art Gallery explores the enduring influence of popular art on the artists who lived in Great Bardfield and north-west Essex.
Co-curated by artist Mark Hearld and the Keeper of the Fry Collection, Colin Wilkin, the exhibition combines works from the Fry collection and loans from private and public collections, with a varied selection of printed ephemera, handmade objects, and decorative curiosities drawn from the curators’ own collections.
Popular art flourished in Great Bardfield, where artists took inspiration from everyday visual culture alongside developments in modern design. Greeting cards, ceramics, packaging, toys and seasonal decorations all formed part of a wider creative language that informed artists including Edward Bawden, Eric Ravilious and Tirzah Garwood.
As Mark Hearld explains, “With this exhibition we hope to surprise and excite.” That spirit runs throughout the exhibition, where visitors encounter clay pipes, tinsel pictures, corn dollies made by Fred Mizen, decorated envelopes and transferware ceramics alongside paintings, prints and illustrations from the Fry collection.
Highlights include an Edwin Smith greetings card inspired by a Regency print, Eric Ravilious’s decorated envelope welcoming Charlotte Bawden to Brick House, and a flight of angels from a nativity scene by Tirzah Garwood. Michael Rothenstein’s striking target print introduces a bold graphic energy, while Edward Bawden’s transferware teapot — featured in Life in an English Village — reflects the artists’ fascination with domestic design and traditional craftsmanship.
Installed in an informal and richly layered way, the exhibition encourages visitors to look closely and discover unexpected relationships between objects and artworks. Laura Freeman, writing in The Times, described the exhibition as “part scrapbook, part collage, part village fête raffle,” capturing the sense of abundance and visual conversation between pieces of work throughout the gallery.
Much more than a survey of nostalgia, Fry’s Popular Delights reveals how deeply everyday objects and popular traditions informed twentieth-century British art, and how these influences continue to inspire artists and audiences today.
The exhibition continues until 25th October 2026 at The Fry Art Gallery, 19a Castle St, Saffron Walden CB10 1BD.
Visit the Fry Art Gallery website for opening hours and further information.
