Abstract Painting in Britain : 1960–65

A parallel presentation to Ben Nicholson: Defining Works 1929-1954, the exhibition featured abstract paintings made in Britain between 1960 and 1965. Whereas Nicholson’s work was often infused with constructivist precision and cubist subtlety, the next generation of artists came of age in the era of New York School painting. Painterly abstraction was de rigueur, and British artists such as Alan Davie, Albert Irvin, Peter Lanyon, William Scott and Bryan Wynter rose to the challenge with personal responses to the dominant trends in French and American art. Many of these artists were pioneered by Sir Alan Bowness, an eminent historian and curator of contemporary art in post-war Britain and director of the Tate Gallery.

Piano Nobile’s display included important paintings that reflect the radicalism of the British art scene in the early sixties. Alan Davie’s Dragons’ Eggs Assorted (1962) had not been seen in public since 1963 and was for many years retained by the artist in his personal collection. William Scott’s painting Expanded (1965) had not been exhibited in a London gallery since the year of its making when the prestigious Hanover Gallery held a solo exhibition of Scott’s work.

For further information and availability of artworks please contact the gallery