In 1939, the year this sculpture was conceived, Hepworth moved to St Ives, Cornwall. The sinuous forms and taut strings in this work show Hepworth’s response to the ancient rhythms of the Cornish landscape and sea: the interplay of light, the ebb and flow of tides, and the movement of waves crashing against rocks, creating cavities and internal spaces within the landscape. Hepworth's strings define the space within her sculptures, bringing a sense of fluidity and tension.

This work is modelled on Paolozzi’s sculpture ‘The artist as Hephaestus’ which used to stand at High Holborn in London. Hephaestus was the Greek god of blacksmiths, craftsmanship, and fire, known for his exceptional skills as a metalworker and sculptor, and for crafting the divine weapons and tools of the gods on Mount Olympus. He was lame, often described as having a physical disability, which added depth to his character and symbolized the duality of strength and vulnerability in his craftsmanship. He also built bronze automatons to work for him, something which particularly appealed to Paolozzi with his interest in technology and machinery.

This is one of Carrington’s so-called 'tinselled pictures' which she had begun making in 1923. They found a popular audience and she sold them regularly as well as giving them as gifts to friends. This work depicts Iris Tree as a fearless heroine galloping freely on a horse. Iris Tree (1897-1968) was an actress and poet who was also a sought after model by artist, working with artists such as Modigliani. She was particularly famed for her bobbed hair. This work was owned by Iris Tree, and had a talismanic quality for her, keeping it with her and displaying it stacked against books in her one-room apartment in Rome.

This work shows Ravilious' distinctive style, characterised by intricate detail and muted colour palette. The meticulous attention to the play of light on the water's surface imbues the painting with a sense of tranquility, but beneath the surface of this idyllic work, there exists an undercurrent of menacing elements that add depth and complexity. The calm waters belie a sense of hidden danger, as eye is drawn to the horizon stretching out towards the Continent a year before the outbreak of WW2. Through his use of light and shadow, and the juxtaposition of the natural and the man-made, Ravilious invites us to contemplate the enigmatic and unsettling aspects of the landscape that often go unnoticed in the world around us.

Dod Procter is best known for her paintings of women, showcasing her ability to paint softly draped clothes and her mastery of tonal harmonies.

Procter painted the figure in the classical tradition, the elegant simplicity of her paintings part of a new classicism which was a move away from the machine age works that were characteristic of the artistic avant-garde in the years before WWW1. The title of this painting, The Golden Girl, draws attention to the blonde hair of the sitter, reminiscent of the flaxen heroines of ancient Greece. Her paintings of women of this time conveyed the timelessness and sculptural quality of classical civilisation, speaking directly to a nation traumatised by war.