Alan Reynolds (1926-2014)

Born in Suffolk, studied at the Woolwich Polytechnic from 1948-1952 and at the Royal College of Art from 1952-53. Throughout the 1950’s, he taught at the Central School of Arts and Crafts and began teaching at St Martin’s School of Art in 1962.

Although he originally made his reputation as  a landscape painter, the 1960’s and the influence of Europe brought about his development of a completely different abstract style. During the war he had been posted to Hanover and felt the impact of German expressionism while other British artists were focused on France. His early influences were Constable and Samuel Palmer, but he later looked to Paul Klee and Mondrian, abandoning depiction in favour of the abstract.

Reynolds has been exhibited extensively on an international scale, with representation in major permanent collections worldwide including the MoMA, New York, the Berlin National Gallery, the V&A and the Tate.

 

Alan Reynolds (1926-2014), The Gardener, Michaelmas Eve II, 1952

 

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Board
15½ x 19¼ in (39 x 49 cm)
Signed and dated

Collections: John Barrow; Captain Paul Stobart; With Christopher Kingzett Fine Art, 2019; Private Collection, UK

Exhibited: London, The Redfern Gallery, Alan Reynolds, 1953 (7)

This picture is one of the rare instances in Alan Reynolds’ art in which figures have a role. In Keeper of the Dark Copse (Tate Gallery), shown in the same exhibition, figures again play a key part but human interaction in the landscape is an unusual theme for the artist.
The title refers to the Christian (and pagan) celebration held at the end of September, and such a specific title again stands out among Reynolds’ generic choice of subject matter.
The picture was in the artist’s first one man show at the Redfern Gallery in 1953. He had shown in three group exhibitions at the gallery the previous year to considerable acclaim and the new exhibition sold out within a week. Buyers included the National Gallery of South Australia, the Museum of Modern Art, New York, and the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.

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