Unit One

English group of architects, painters and sculptors. The group was formed in London in 1933 after discussions between Paul Nash, Wells Coates, Henry Moore and Ben Nicholson. In 1932 Nash had described the need for a 'sympathetic alliance between architect, painter, sculptor and decorator' (The Listener, 16 March 1932), which would further the modernization of British artistic culture according to the precedents of the European Modern Movement. The other members were John Armstrong (1893-1973), John Bigge (1892-1973), Edward Burra, Barbara Hepworth, Colin Lucas (1906-84) and Edward Wadsworth. Frances Hodgkins was a member for only a very short time and was later replaced by Tristram Hillier (1905-83). The name of the group was chosen by Nash to express both unity (Unit) and individuality (One).

See the Abbreviations for further details.

The designer, artist, and teacher Paul Nash founded this British avant-garde group of architects and fine artists to promote Modernism in art and architecture in England. Leading members of the group included Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth, and Ben Nicholson, as well as the architects Wells Coates and Colin Lucas. In 1934 their work was exhibited at the Mayor Gallery in London and published in a book edited by the writer, historian, and theorist Herbert Read. According to Nash members of the group were linked by ‘the expression of a truly contemporary spirit which is recognised as peculiarly of today’. The Unit One book published by Cassell (1934) and Circle (1937) were important elements in the promotion of Modernism in Britain in the years leading up to the Second World War. Originally the plans for Unit One had included design, as well as fine arts and architecture, but this was later abandoned.

The Field Medical Kit carried by Navy Hospital Corpsmen.