About this lot
Description
§ § Alan Green (British 1932-2003)
Green Descending to Brown
signed, titled and dated 94 to the reverse
oil on canvas (unframed)
70 x 70cm
Provenance:
With Annely Juda Fine Art, London
Footnote:
In the mid-1960s, no doubt inspired by American abstract painters such as Mark Rothko and Barnett Newman and reacting against the increasingly pervasive influence of the St. Ives School, Alan Green unveiled his first field-paintings. Green would continue to mature and refine his style of abstraction over the next four decades.
Born in London in 1932, Green studied at Beckenham School of Art and The Royal College of Art where he trained as an illustrator, printmaker and graphic artist. It is thought that this path of study, free from the spectre of art history and the shackles of traditional painting techniques, helped steer Green towards abstraction. During this period, Green also spent two years on National Service, posted in Japan and Korea, where he developed an appreciation for the aesthetics of Japanese Minimalism and met the distinguished Japanese potter, Shoji Hamada, who would prove to be a hugely influential figure in his life and work. A peer of Bernard Leach, Hamada not only tutored Green in studio pottery techniques, but also instilled in him the importance of grinding his own pigments and fashioning his own tools. Both colour and tool use would remain critical in Green's practice throughout his career.
Displaying a restrained, modulated palette and a meticulously scraped and combed surface, the present lot is reflective of Green's larger body of work and the experiences that helped to shape it.
Condition report:
The white painted areas of the canvas show a very light layer of dirty, the surface is rough and textured as per the artist's technique. Overall in very good condition.
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