Gwyther Irwin 1931-2008

This is one of a small group of works that Irwin made in 1963-4 using black card, their tonal palette emerging from light and shadow cast on the boards jutting out from the support. Another from the group is now in the Tate Collection, 'Forests of the Night' (T00613), acquired from the Artist’s successful 1963 Gimpel Fils exhibition that included the present work (https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/irwin-forests-of-the-night-t00613). ‘63 was an important year for Irwin, seeing his inclusion in a Danish exhibition of key British artists, another in the USA that toured San Francisco, Dallas and Santa Barbara, and a number of major UK shows, including the Whitechapel Gallery, Gallery One and the Arts Council. A third black collage was exhibited in Berlin's 1974 exhibition of works by Irwin, Roger Hilton, Joe Tilson and Bernard Meadows, and is still in the family's collection; others are in the collections of British Council (included in the recent On Paper touring exhibition), Southampton City Gallery, Smithsonian (Hirshhorn 66.2552) and Albright-Knox (K1964:29).

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