In 1946 Grigson was one of the founders of the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) in London, together with Roland Penrose, Herbert Read, Peter Watson and Peter Gregory. In 1951 Grigson curated an exhibition of drawings and watercolours drawn from the British Council Collection, which toured worldwide for three decades, to 57 art galleries and museums The exhibition consisted of more than 100 works, including those of David Bomberg, Edward Burra, Cecil Collins, John Craxton, Frances Hodgkins, Barbara Hepworth, Augustus John, David Jones, Wyndham Lewis, John Minton, Henry Moore, Paul Nash, Ben Nicholson, Eduardo Paolozzi, John Piper, Graham Sutherland and Edward Wadsworth.