Gwyther Irwin 1931-2008

This is one of a small group of works that Irwin made using black card, a tonal palette being created from the light and shadows cast on the folded boards that he has collaged. The only other example known to survive from the group is now in the Tate Collection, T00613 (https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/irwin-forests-of-the-night-t00613), acquired from the Artist’s successful 1963 Gimpel Fils exhibition that included the present work. ‘63 was an important year for Irwin, seeing his inclusion in an exhibition of key British artists in Denmark, another in the USA, that toured San Francisco, Dallas and Santa Barbara, and a number of major UK shows, including with the Whitechapel Gallery, Gallery One and the Arts Council. A third black collage, Phantom, was exhibited in the 1974 Berlin exhibition of works by Irwin, Roger Hilton, Joe Tilson and Bernard Meadows, still with the Estate.

Provenance

Gimpel Fils, London;

Dennis Lennon, acquired from Molton Gallery, London, thence by descent to the previous owner

Exhibitions

London, Gimpel Fils, 'Gwyther Irwin', September 1963, cat.no.4, label attached verso