JOHN MILNES-SMITH L.G. (born 1912 – 1998)
“Abstract
Composition”
Oil painting on canvas over board. 21 ½” x 24 ¼” (546
x 615mm)
With signature on reverse and dated 1964 IMAGE
“King
of Hearts”
Oil
Painting. Signed. Also signed, titled & dated ’89 on reverse
8” x 6” (203mm x 152mm)
Overall
framed size 16 ½” x 13 ¾” (420mm x 350mm) IMAGE IMAGE
John
Milnes-Smith was a painter and collagist, notably of abstract work. He was born in Middlesex. From 1934-1938 he studied at the
Architectural Association, specialising in historic buildings, qualifying in
1939. From 1940 to 1944 war service took
him to the Far East. His painting in the
late 1940s was representational, although he fast moved towards abstraction, in
1951 being represented in British Abstract Art at Gimpel
Fils, the first of many group appearances in the
1950s. In 1952 he became a Member of the
London Group. He took part in the Metavisual, Tachiste and
Abstract Exhibition at the Redfern Gallery, London in 1957 and in 1959 he
had his first solo show at new Vision Centre, four years later beginning a long
association with Drian Galleries. He
also began working with collage in the 1960s. In 1988 he shared a show called Reflections of the Fifties at England
& Co., and in 1990 was given a retrospective at Austin/Desmond Fine Art. The National Gallery in Gdansk, Poland holds
his work. He lived in London.
