Paule Vézelay was a marvel, but not the first British abstract artist

‘I learned from subsequent meetings what a strong and radical person she was, not just in her art but also in her politics and feminism.’ Photograph: Estate of Paule Vézelay/RWA

It’s great to see Paule Vézelay being given overdue recognition in a solo exhibition, but neither she nor her obscure friend Marlow Moss was the first British abstract artist (Major show to celebrate UK’s forgotten female trailblazer of abstract art, 24 December).

Your report implies that it all began with these two in 1928, preceding Barbara Hepworth and (the mostly non-abstract) Henry Moore by several years. But 15 years earlier, immediately before the first world war, Wyndham Lewis (admittedly a sexist so-and-so) and Edward Wadsworth were producing uncompromisingly, even explosively, abstract paintings. To these we might add David Bomberg and at a pinch Vanessa Bell, even if her abstraction was intended for Omega workshop craft designs. Your article “abstracts” too many figures who got there before Vézelay.
Dr Mark Stocker
Christchurch, New Zealand