Anna McNay reviews Refiguring the 50s at Ben Uri Gallery, London, on view through February 22, 2015. The show features works by Eva Frankfurther, Joan Eardley, Josef Herman, LS Lowry, and Sheila Fell.

McNay writes: "Each [painter] is distinctive in his or her style, but a common interest in society, working people as subject matter and the underlying human condition provides a thread that strings the works together and allows the gallery, and curator Sarah MacDougall, to spin a narrative and create a vivid picture of the era and its social change, patchworking together these various viewpoints… Each artist captures the spirit and body of their subjects and their livelihoods. These artists’ works are studies of humanity and the human condition, which, taken together, portray a realistic portrait of postwar Britain in all its aspects."