Gillian Ayres
Born – London, England 1930
At the age of fourteen, Gillian Ayres made the decision to become a painter. She studied at London’s Camberwell School of Art from 1946-1950 and exhibited her work in the following year in the Young Contemporaries exhibition. Her strength, from her years as a student, has been her determination to resist the teaching she received, emphasizing a systematic approach to figuration. Instead, she has consistently followed her intuitive and freely expressed method of working in an abstract style. Her interests in artistic developments of the post-war period in Europe were personified via her contact with the painter Roger Hilton. The exciting explorations and working methods of the American Abstract Expressionists, most notably Jackson Pollock, inspired her to reject the conventional techniques of easel painting. An influential teacher and example to younger artists, Ayres has worked on both large-scale and small-scale works, changing from acrylic to oil paint in 1978. Woodbines of Sweet Honey reveals Ayres’ skill for managing her medium and adapting her compositional structure to the unusual shape of the support. Her colours remain clear and gestural brushwork distinct, despite the range of pigment and depth of impasto.
Masterpieces:
- Break-Off
- At This Stage
Text: The A-Z of Art, Nicola Hodge and Libby Anson.