An exhibition of paintings and drawings selected by John Rothenstein, William Coldstream and Allan Gwynne Jones. The selection included works by Royal Academicians: Charles Connard, Augustus John, William McEvoy, William Orpen, Walter Sickert; by members of the New English Art Club: Muirhead Bone, Gwen John, Wilson Steer and Henry Tonks; by the London Group: Graham Bell, Mark Gertler, Lawrence Gowing, Duncan Grant, Victor Pasmore, Matthew Smith. There was also an independent section which included works by Wyndham Lewis, Henry Moore, Robert MacBryde, Ben Nicholson, Paul Nash, Stanley Spencer and Graham Sutherland. A catalogue was published to accompany the show. No ISBN number.

The South African Association of Arts toured the exhibition to Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, Bloemfontein, Pietermaritzburg, Pretoria, Durban and Johannesburg. A small section of the show travelled to Southern Rhodesia during September and October 1948, and was shown in Bulawayo, Salisbury, Umtali and Gwelo.