1945-05-18

[F.o.t.h.:] Jordans 3220
TRU
TI JARDans
3220

18. V. 45

Dear Mr. Petersen,

I was very pleased to hear from you + to know that you & your wife have survived the vicissitudes of these terrible years. I was also glad to see evidence of your recent work + to see how it has developed in the interim. Here in England there has been little activity during the war: The bombing dispersed the artists, many went to America, no exhibitions could be held. Things are gradually reviving, but slowly. The Leicester Galleries, Redfern, Reid & Lefevre, etc have reopened, but so far there is no gallery

[Side 2:]

specialising in the modern movement. E.L.T. Mesens plans to re-open the London Gallery this autumn, +your best plan would be to write to him about the possibilty of an exhibition of your work + your wife's. His address is: 23 Downshire Hill, London, NW 3. Ms. Guggenheim went to New York where she opened a gallery called Art of This Century. I think she intends to return to this country, but not yet.

Several new art magazines are planned, but at present it is illegal [understreget] to publish a new magazine. We are still in the grip of a war economy + everything is enormously difficult. There is plenty of interest in modern art, but it is not possible to take advantage of it.

With all good wishes

Yours sincerely

Herbert Read.