Topolski Memoir

About Topolski Memoir

Feliks Topolski RA used the arch underneath Hungerford Bridge as his primary studio from 1951 through to his death in 1989. Acquiring the space in the months following his commission for the Festival of Britain, the arch has hosted a wide range of figures both well-known and less so. From important world leaders and cultural or artistic icons, to soldiers, vagabonds, visitors and drop-ins, the Studio was a vibrant example of a bygone cultural era. From 1975, Topolski painted his 'Memoir of the Century', a 600ft long, 12-20ft high immersive installation painting, depicting his personal view, remembered realities and abstractions of dreams throughout his diverse experience of the 20th Century. Now the site of the Topolski Bar, the majority of the work is kept in secure storage. It is our ambition to display the work again in a context befitting its significance. Much of his greatest work was painted here, and from the early 70s Feliks had an ‘Open Studio’ every Friday from 3pm, with open doors to whoever so wished to pop their head in to talk art, theatre, politics, London, love, music... Whilst no longer the artistic bohemian working studio of Feliks’ lifetime, the space continues as an archive, storage facility and educational space with Feliks central principles and philosophies of objectivity, curiosity, tolerance and openness at its core. The Studio’s objective is to encourage ‘Reportage’ artwork through printed material, workshops, residencies and exhibitions of both Topolski’s work and that of other Reportage artists, whilst promoting Feliks Topolski’s own legacy, impact and reputation as the foremost visual chronicler of the 20th C. The Studio aims to function as a study centre, actively archiving and digitising its large collection of graphic works, whilst also providing a space for contemporary artists, historians and the curious to engage with the rich tradition of reportage.

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