Charles Sewter was professor of Art History at Manchester University and the initiator of The Manchester Institute of Contemporary Art – MICA, in 1963.

He devoted his selection specifically to artists from outside the UK who played a prominent part in the post war avant garde London Art scene of the 60’s. He stated that ‘only two other cities in the world, Paris and New York, exercise as strong a magnetism for artists as London’. His intention was to reflect the ‘ Ecole de Paris’ of the 20’s and 30’s which was mostly composed of artists who had gathered from outside France to work in Paris.

Amongst those selected were RB Kitaj, Frank Auerbach, William Newcombe, Aubrey Williams, Nino Spallone and Anthea Alley.

Art Cosmopolis is a continuation of Sewters’s concept, encompassing international artists of diverse origins and backgrounds in one group.