Magda Cordell (née Lustigova) was born into a Jewish family in Nové Zámky, Hungary (now Slovakia) in 1921. Fleeing Nazi persecution during the Second World War, she took refuge in Egypt and then Palestine, eventually settling in London postwar with her husband, composer Frank Cordell. She was actively involved in the creation of the Independent Group, a loose collective of artists, architects, designers, musicians, and critics who convened at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) in London. Delving into profound existential inquiries, Cordell’s paintings explored the female form, drawing inspiration from Art Brut.
Painter, art theorist and academic, Magda Cordell (née Lustigova) was born into a Jewish family in Nové Zámky, Hungary (now Slovakia) on 24 June 1921. To escape Nazi persecution during the Second World War, she sought refuge first in Egypt and later in Palestine. Tragically, her family perished in the Holocaust. In Palestine, she worked for British Intelligence and the Free Czech Army, meeting her first husband, composer Frank Cordell, who was also affiliated with British intelligence. Postwar they moved to London, living at 52 Cleveland Square, Bayswater, a Georgian house that also served as a shared studio. There, they were joined by artist John McHale, Cordell's future second husband. The three played a pivotal role in founding the Independent Group (IG), a loose collective of artists, architects, designers, musicians, and critics who convened at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) in London from 1952–55 and frequently met at Clevelland Square. The group’s shared vision was to infuse mass culture into what they perceived as the conservative world of fine art galleries. Notable members of the IG included artists, Richard Hamilton, William Turnbull, and Eduardo Paolozzi; architects, Alison and Peter Smithson; surrealist and magazine art director Toni del Renzio; and curator and critic, Lawrence Alloway.
Cordell's artwork mirrored the group's deep interest in diverse fields such as anthropology, ethnography, science, and science fiction. Like her contemporaries, she was captivated by how these disciplines provided insights into the evolutionary dynamics of generational shifts. Specifically, she was intrigued by how societies collectively adapt to evolving environmental conditions. One of the few female voices of the period, and the only female member of the IG, Cordell's focus on the female form delved into profound existential inquiries. She presented the female body in a dual light: as both a mythological archetype and a canvas for techno-scientific exploration. Drawing inspiration from Art Brut, her expressionistic depictions were reminiscent of the works of renowned French artist, Jean Dubuffet (1901-1985), while critic Basil Taylor remarked that Cordell’s paintings were ‘a marriage between Jackson Pollock and The Thing from Outer Space' (cited in Robbins, p. 64). Cordell's powerful depictions of the female form were visceral, sensuous, and marked by trauma, often showcasing figures that were skeletal, gutted, beheaded, or missing limbs. Her distorted forms both depicted the human body's resilience and the existential distress of the mid-20th century. According to Giulia Smith, Cordell's 'proto-feminist' creations underscored her persistent efforts to challenge and deconstruct the conventional association of femininity with the caregiving maternal figure on the picture surface (Smith 2015). Employing a mix of inks, pigments, paint, and plastic polymer resins, Cordell painted both on canvas and glass – often as monoprints. Her works were distinguished by their richly textured finishes, as seen in Figure (Woman) (1956–7, Tate Collection), which epitomises Cordell’s approach of portraying the female body as ‘a ballooned aggregate of pictorial lumps’ (Smith 2015).
In 1955, Cordell showcased her monotypes and collages in a solo exhibition at the ICA. The following year, her works, drawing inspiration from science fiction, were exhibited at the Hanover Gallery. A review in Architectural Design praised Cordell’s ‘verve and skill’ and her ‘considerable delicacy of line and colour […]’ (Architectural Design 1956, p. 30). Alloway characterised Cordell’s figures as ‘androids with a patina of pathos’ (Alloway 1956, unpaginated). In 1956, Cordell visited the USA, immersing herself in abstract expressionism and meeting McHale at Yale University. That year, she was instrumental in organising the groundbreaking This Is Tomorrow exhibition at London's Whitechapel Art Gallery, merging fine art with commercial items. She used materials from McHale, including magazines, and a sketch idea for a poster (Whitham 1986, p. 262). In 1957, she participated in the ICA's exhibition Statements: A Review of British Abstract Art in 1956, featuring prominent contemporary artists such as Barbara Hepworth, Patrick Heron, Bryan Wynter and Roger Hilton.
In 1961, after marrying McHale, the couple moved to the USA to explore the interdisciplinary field of futurism, studying global human development. By 1968, they had founded the Center for Integrative Studies in Binghamton, New York. Their research on societal and ecological changes earned global recognition. In 1977, they shifted to the University of Houston in Texas and, after McHale’s death in 1978, Cordell moved the center to the University at Buffalo by 1980. Cordell’s work was included in the exhibitions The Independent Group: Postwar Britain and the Aesthetics of Plenty, ICA (1990) and Transition: The London Art Scene in the Fifties, Barbican Art Gallery, London (2002). Magda Cordell died in Buffalo, New York, USA on 21 February 2008. In the UK public domain, her work is represented in the Tate collection. Figure 59 and No. 8, both influenced by science fiction and highlighting the mature female form, were included in the survey exhibition, Postwar: Art Between the Pacific and the Atlantic 1945-65, Barbican Centre (2022).
Consult items in the Ben Uri archive related to [Magda Cordell]
Publications related to [Magda Cordell] in the Ben Uri Library