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Details

Classification:

Drawing and Watercolour

Materials:

Gouache, Paper

Dimensions:

57.0 x 78.5 cm

Accession Number:

3/2018

Credit:

Presented by the Contemporary Art Society, 2017/18

Ownership history:

Purchased from Alan Cristea Gallery by the Contemporary Art Society, 17 October 2017; presented to Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery (RAMM), Exeter, 2017/18

Gillian Ayres RA was one of the leading British abstract painters of her generation. She was a pioneer of abstract art and one of the first artists in Britain to be influenced by American Abstract Expressionism and Colour Field painting. Her work is both powerful and lyrical.

Shalimar #2 (2011) is typical of her work, with its vibrancy, uplifting colours and smooth, simple forms. Typical for Ayres, this work is not a direct response to a particular moment or subject. Her work is never taken directly from nature, instead her paintings use an extensive vocabulary of symbols. In Shalimar #2 seed heads and flowers are set against each other in a whirling chaos of juxtaposing geometric forms.

This gift strengthens the collection at the Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter of abstract paintings and allows Ayres’s work to be viewed alongside her contemporaries Patrick Heron RA, Sir Terry Frost RA, John Wells and Brian Rice. As one of our most significant post-war women abstract artists, her work begins to redress the historical dominance of the male artists within the RAMM's collection.

All rights reserved. Any further use will need to be cleared with the rights holder. Permission granted to reproduce for personal and educational use only. Commercial copying, hiring, lending is prohibited. The collection that owns this artwork may have more information on their own website about permitted uses and image licensing options.

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