Smith Art Gallery & Museum | Details

Sidebar content	Main content
Actions Displays	Interior Remove from selection Add to selection Reproduction Download mediaDownload as zip file Object number19890 TitleInterior Creator William Gear, (Artist)‎ DescriptionInterior was painted in 1949 by William Gear, a British abstract artist who found international fame in the 1950s and whose work has seen a revival of interest in recent decades. This large, colourful canvas is recognisably the work of Gear – the strong warmth of the reds, oranges and yellows shining out from heavy, dark outlines are reminiscent of a stained-glass window. Yet the sharp points, angles and the piercing red circles at the centre give the image an unsettling feel. William Gear was born in Methil in Fife. He studied at Edinburgh College of Art in the 1930s with Wilhelmina Barns-Graham among others. His time there nurtured a lifelong love of the manipulation of paint, reflected in the work of many artists from that college. After serving in the army during the Second World War, Gear went on to work in Germany as one of the ‘Monuments Men.’ From 1947-50 he lived in Paris, where he was able to meet and experience the work of many influential artists. His work was exhibited alongside Jackson Pollock in America in 1949; that same year he joined CoBrA, an avant-garde collective looking for new ways of expression. Gear’s abstract, energetic and colourful paintings fitted the group’s ethos perfectly at that time. Returning to Britain, Gear won a commission to make a piece for the 1951 Festival of Britain. While his work caused outrage in some quarters, it was also being added to national collections. Gear went on to work as a curator at the Towner Gallery in Eastbourne and later became Head of Fine Art at Birmingham College of Art. Production date 1949 Object namePainting, Oil Painting Painting MaterialOil/Canvas Dimensions image Height: 875 mm image Width: 1150 mm frame Height: 920 mm frame Width: 1200 mm

Reproduction

Download mediaDownload as zip file

Object number19890

TitleInterior

DescriptionInterior was painted in 1949 by William Gear, a British abstract artist who found international fame in the 1950s and whose work has seen a revival of interest in recent decades. This large, colourful canvas is recognisably the work of Gear – the strong warmth of the reds, oranges and yellows shining out from heavy, dark outlines are reminiscent of a stained-glass window. Yet the sharp points, angles and the piercing red circles at the centre give the image an unsettling feel. William Gear was born in Methil in Fife. He studied at Edinburgh College of Art in the 1930s with Wilhelmina Barns-Graham among others. His time there nurtured a lifelong love of the manipulation of paint, reflected in the work of many artists from that college. After serving in the army during the Second World War, Gear went on to work in Germany as one of the ‘Monuments Men.’ From 1947-50 he lived in Paris, where he was able to meet and experience the work of many influential artists. His work was exhibited alongside Jackson Pollock in America in 1949; that same year he joined CoBrA, an avant-garde collective looking for new ways of expression. Gear’s abstract, energetic and colourful paintings fitted the group’s ethos perfectly at that time. Returning to Britain, Gear won a commission to make a piece for the 1951 Festival of Britain. While his work caused outrage in some quarters, it was also being added to national collections. Gear went on to work as a curator at the Towner Gallery in Eastbourne and later became Head of Fine Art at Birmingham College of Art.

Production date 1949

Object namePainting, Oil Painting

Painting

MaterialOil/Canvas

Dimensions

image Height: 875 mm
image Width: 1150 mm
frame Height: 920 mm
frame Width: 1200 mm