Harewood was the only venue to receive a major exhibition from Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge, featuring work by renowned French-born sculptor and draughtsman, Henri Gaudier-Brzeska. It was the first time Brzeska’s engagement with dance and movement had been explored. New Rhythms brought together sculpture, drawing, photography, film, and archive material in a display which marked the centenary of his untimely death in WW1.

Gaudier-Brzeska moved permanently to London in January 1911. He made a significant contribution to the development of modern sculpture, as one of the key members of the Vorticist movement and by influencing a later generation of sculptors.

New Rhythms took as its starting point, Gaudier‐Brzeska’s two contrasting sculptures Red Stone Dancer and Dancer. The exhibition looked in detail at the inspirations for the two sculptures of 1913, using them as studies for a wider exploration of the artist’s interests in the subject and the cultural milieu in which he was working. For example, his engagement with the dynamic performances of the Ballets Russes is brought to the fore through his bronze Firebird (1912) from Harewood’s own collection. A selection of his drawings from Harewood’s collection were also on display.