A fresh look at a period of English art that has surged in interest and popularity in recent years, authored by one of Britain's leading art historians and critics. The 21st century has seen an enormous surge of interest in English art of the interwar years. Work by artists like Stanley Spencer and Eric Ravilious has soared in value while new critical attention has been paid to others, often women, who were previously overlooked, such as Winifred Knights and Evelyn Dunbar. High-profile exhibitions have attracted record-breaking visitor numbers and challenged received opinion, encouraging a more nuanced understanding of the cultural landscape of the 1920s and 1930s. With these new perspectives in mind, 'The Real and the Romantic' takes a fresh look at this richly diverse period in English art.