TOURS
The Omega Workshops was a pioneering organisation, central to the history of 20 th century British design. It was set up in 1913 by Roger Fry, largely to offer his artist friends regular paid employment but also to bring the colour, movement and freedom of Post Impressionism to the decorative arts. Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant were named as co-directors, and a number of the great British artists of the time were employed for no more than 3 and a half days a week, so as to leave plenty of time for their independent work. Wyndham Lewes, Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, Paul Nash, Edward Wadsworth, and Nina Hamnett all had connections with Omega. The artists produced designs for the workshops, many of which could then be applied to a variety of different items. The artists could then also execute each other’s designs, and everything produced by the workshops was sold under the Omega insignia – Ω – rather than any particular artists’ name.
