{"title":"John William Melville (1902-1986)","description":"\u003cp\u003eAlthough born in London, he moved with his family to Birmingham at an early age. Artistically he was largely self-taught, becoming associated with the Modern Group in Birmingham in the late 1920s. By the early 1930s he was connected with the Surrealists in London and along with his art critic brother, Robert Melville, and the artists Conroy Maddox and Desmond Morris, was a key member of the Birmingham Surrealists from the 1930s to the 1950s. in 1938 some of his works were banned from an exhibition in Birmingham by local councillors as being “detrimental to public sensibility”. He was a contributor to the Surrealist publication London Bulletin in 1939, and to Arson in 1942. During the Second War Melville worked for the Ministry of Food in Birmingham. From the 1950s Melville taught for a time in the extra-mural department of Birmingham University. In recent years his work has been increasingly reappraised leading to his inclusion in a number of public exhibitions – notably \"Surrealism: Two Private Eyes\" at the Guggenheim, New York in 1999 and \"Surrealism in Birmingham\" in 2001.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"pop-info tabbed\"\u003e\n\u003cul class=\"pop-info__links\"\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSold Works\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"pop-info__content\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"grid-item-33\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.panterandhall.com\/collections\/john-melville-1902-1986-sold-work\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eSold Work\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"john-melville-the-letter","title":"The Letter","description":"\u003cspan style=\"color: #ffffff;\"\u003eOriginal artwork\u003c\/span\u003e","brand":"John Melville (1902-1986)","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56586111549826,"sku":null,"price":11750.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0095\/0206\/4703\/files\/JohnMeville_TheLetter.jpg?v=1776945751"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0095\/0206\/4703\/collections\/JohnMeville_TheLetter_37e39253-25f5-492d-82ec-0f38aa22f0f6.jpg?v=1776946600","url":"https:\/\/www.panterandhall.com\/collections\/john-melville-1902-1986.oembed","provider":"Panter and Hall","version":"1.0","type":"link"}