Stanza

A We Live Upon One Square Foot - Contemporary Abstract Art Digital Painting

2016

An original oil on canvas by noted Scottish artist William Gear which dates to 1981. Entitled early Spring it is a vibrant and fresh art work with lovely colouring. Signed, dated and titled verso. Provenance. William Gear estate. Royal Birmingham Society of Artists 1981. Condition. Oil on canvas, 48 inches by 32 inches. Excellent condition. William Gear (1915-1997). Few British painters have played an active role in the modern abstract movement of post-war Europe. William Gear was the most passionate and committed exception. He continued the tradition of the Edinburgh-Paris axis established by J.D. Fergusson, Samuel Peploe and others, spending vital years between 1947 and 1950 living and working in Paris. Significantly, in recent years, he received the greatest acclaim in France, Germany and the Netherlands. He was born in 1915 in Methil, Fife, into a mining family; the particular landscape of "pitheads, the sea, rocks, castles, trees, storms and poverty" marked his earliest identity with a place and probably remained the most influential to his art. Years later he recalled as a schoolboy visiting the local art gallery in Kirkcaldy and seeing 12 colourful still-lifes by Peploe. Art-history lessons during student years at Edinburgh College of Art, in particular Byzantine classes under David Talbot Rice, also influenced his concern for structure. This had as much to do with the formal language of painting as sheer delight in the medium itself. Gear never missed an opportunity to show people the merits of a well-constructed painting. On a travelling scholarship in 1937, he chose to study with Fernand Leger, described by Gear as "a keystone for me, seldom abstract, rather a degree of abstraction". The Second World War interrupted these formative years and, by 1940, Gear had joined the Royal Corps of Signals. Dispatched to the Middle East, he still had the discipline to paint - mostly works on paper of damaged landscapes - with exhibitions in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Cairo as well as Siena and Florence. His naturally robust and tenacious temperament was profoundly affected by visiting Bergen-Belsen, and this certainly influenced the later experiments with the black armature. As the British officer in Celle, working for the Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives Section of the Control Commission, he focused on securing the safety of the Berlin Art Collection in Schloss Celle, and organised an important series of modern art exhibitions, including the rejected work of Karl Otto Gotz...

This striking Abstract Expressionist sixties composition is by Danish artist Erling Andersen. Painted in 1969 it is a mixed media composition on canvas...

This superb British 1950's abstract oil on board painting is by noted Slade School trained contemporary artist Leo Davy. Davy was born in Yorkshire but settled in Cornwall in 1968 an...

This very striking exhibited Scottish Abstract oil painting is by influential Scottish artist Jack Knox. Painted in 1964, it is a vivid mix of autumnal colours, textures and brushwork that work perfectly. A brilliant example of his work from the early sixties and which was exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy in 1965. Unsigned. Dated 21.2.64 lower right. Provenance. Exhibited Royal Scottish Academy, Exhibition 1965, Edinburgh, label verso. Condition. Oil on canvas, 51 inches by 36 inches unframed and in good condition. Frame. Housed in a gilt sixties surround frame, 53 inches by 38 inches framed and in good condition. Jack Knox RSA (1936-2015) was one of the most influential artists to work in Scotland in the second half of the twentieth century. Born John Knox to a family of tailors in Kirkintilloch, Knox studied at the Glasgow School of Art (1953-57) where his drawings were noted for their mature draughtsmanship. After graduating, Knox went to Paris to attend the atelier of Cubist artist, André L’Hȏte. During his time in Europe Knox digested the various art movements of the moment, including Surrealism, Tachisme, Colour Field and Pop Art. Visiting the great museums, he was particularly interested in Analytic Cubism and Georges Braque’s intimation, rather than description, of object. He also went to Brussels to visit the first major show of American Abstract Expressionism in Europe. He returned to Scotland eager to establish his own style, drawing on everything he had seen in Europe. In 1960 the Glasgow Herald presented an exhibition during the Edinburgh Festival of young artists from the west of Scotland. Knox was selected to show alongside George Devlin, Carole Gibbons, Anda Patterson, Douglas Abercrombie and Duncan...