We have always strived to be a pretty broad church here at P & H and, within the physical limitations of painting as a medium, we like to offer an aesthetic Smorgasbord that reflects the diversity of tastes amongst our clients.
The gallery has a reputation for regularly championing figurative painting and our recent collections have certainly favoured the plein air tradition, so this exhibition goes some way to redress the balance.
Abstraction can sometimes prove the sanctuary of the unskilled painter. In the past bemusement or criticism from the prospective buyer could be rebuffed by an accusation of ignorance or even philistinism on their part. After more than a century of living with abstract painting in our mainstream culture, we are inured to any of the shock or sense of the modern that the public felt on first encountering a Malevich or Rodchenko. Indeed, abstraction is now positively mainstream and is perhaps more attuned to the 1950s and 60s than the present.
This familiarity gives us a sense of what a good abstract painting looks like, there is a rightness in composition, scale and colour tone that we feel is present or lacking without instruction from a dealer or even the artist in question. Abstraction is a progression in philosophy and style from figuration in painting, but it can only be successful if grounded in the basic skills of the easel.
In curating this collection, we have selected work as far to the pure abstract end of the spectrum as our stock room allows. The artists included all pass that acid test of artistic integrity, using abstraction as a progression to explore the boundaries of their practice not a means to mask technical incompetence.
● Sold
● Reserved
If you are interested in any of the reserved paintings, it is worth contacting the gallery as they may become available.
