Beaux Arts Gallery Beaux Arts Gallery Beaux Arts Gallery, London, England, founded in 1923 and closed in 1965, was known as a preeminent center for promoting avant-garde art. Founded and operated by portrait sculptor Frederick Lessore in 1923, the gallery was run by his wife Helen Lessore, a painter, until it closed in 1965. Prominent exhibitions at the gallery included: the first solo exhibition by Christopher Wood; one of the first exhibitions of Barbara Hepworth and her husband John Skeaping, the first solo exhibition of Frank Auerbach and Leon Kossoff. Beaux Arts Gallery also became associated with the Kitchen Sink School (and later
Dorothy Hepworth from Hepworth's wealthy father to purchase a house there, but Hepworth's father lost his fortune in the stock market crash of 1929. Hepworth's father died in 1930, and afterward, Hepworth and Preece experienced much difficulty trying to pay for the mortgage of their home. Preece and Hepworth were closeted, as was typical in those days, and they sometimes claimed to be sisters. Hepworth and Preece maintained their relationship after Preece's 1937 marriage to the painter Stanley Spencer, who was obsessed with her. Preece took Hepworth on her honeymoon, while Spencer stayed home to work on a painting. Preece and Hepworth