Drawing over the Colour Line database
Explore artists, sitters and artworks from inter-war London (1919–1939) in this database uncovering African and Asian diasporic contributions to British art and culture.
This database documents artists, artworks, and sitters whose experiences informed the project Drawing Over the Colour Line: Geographies of art and cosmopolitan politics in London 1919–1939 (AH/I027371/1).
Led by Dr Caroline Bressey and Dr Gemma Romain at The Equiano Centre, UCL Department of Geography (2012–2014), the project explored how the Harlem Renaissance shaped interwar London — a city alive with anti-colonial, nationalist, and Pan-African thought.
This research examined the lives and works of men and women from the African and Asian diasporas who worked as artists and artists’ models in London between 1919 and 1939. It explored how they shaped, and were shaped by, the artistic, cultural, and political movements of interwar London.
The project drew upon art archives, personal papers, autobiographies, and memoirs to reveal networks of creativity and political activism that connected London to global Black modernisms.
Project leads: Professor Caroline Bressey and Dr Gemma Romain
Based at: The Equiano Centre, UCL Department of Geography
Collaborators included UCL Art Museum, the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, and Tate Britain.
Explore the Database
Search by artist, sitter, artwork title, keyword, or place to uncover over 500 records from interwar London’s art scene.
Search the databaseYou can search by artist, sitter, artwork title, keyword, or place.
Examples:
- Artist: Winifred Knights
- Sitter: Sunita
- Keyword: Patrick Nelson or Black
- Place: Chelsea or Bloomsbury
Copyright restrictions
Due to copyright restrictions, images of artworks are not included. Where available, links to online images or references (e.g. The Studio, 1936) are provided.
What You’ll Find
Do
Explore over 500 entries
Discover detailed records of artists, sitters, and artworks connected to interwar London’s creative and political communities.
Learn about diaspora artists
Find out how African and Asian diaspora artists contributed to and influenced London’s artistic world between the wars.
Discover cultural connections
Trace the networks linking artists, models, and movements that shaped modern British art and identity.
Don't
Expect images of all artworks
Because of copyright restrictions, images are only included when they’re available through external public links.
Assume full biographical detail
Each record reflects what survives in archives. Some artists and sitters remain only partially documented.
Spotlight on sitters
These spotlights are extracts from essays produced by undergraduate students on the Department of Geography's final year Independent Study Module. As part of their coursework, they worked with the Drawing Over the Colour Line project, undertaking their own research in the archives on individuals they chose from those in the database. Their research contributed to the entries in the database, and is expanded in the spotlight biographies below.
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