Albert Irvin
{{Short description|English painter (1922–2015)}}
{{distinguish|Albert Irvine|Albert Irwin}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2021}}
{{Infobox artist
| name = Albert Irvin
| image =
| image_size =
| caption =
| birth_name = Albert Henry Thomas Irvin
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1922|8|21|df=y}}
| birth_place = Bermondsey, London, England
| death_date = {{death date and age|2015|3|26|1922|8|21|df=y}}
| death_place = Tooting, London, England
| nationality = British
| known_for = Painting
| training =
| movement = Expressionist abstract
| notable_works =
| patrons =
| awards = OBE
| website = {{URL|albert-irvin.com}}
}}
Albert Henry Thomas Irvin {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|OBE|RA}} (21 August 1922 – 26 March 2015) was an English expressionist abstract artist.
Life and career
Irvin was born in Bermondsey, London on 21 August 1922. He was evacuated from there during World War II, to study at the Northampton School of Art between 1940 and 1941, before being conscripted into the Royal Air Force as a navigator. When the war was over, he resumed his course at Goldsmiths College from 1946 to 1950.{{cite news|url=https://heni.com/talks/albert-irvin-colours-of-feeling|title=Albert Irvin: ‘Colours of Feeling’|work=HENI Talks}} He went on to teach there between 1962 and 1983, on good terms with Basil Beattie and Harry Thubron.{{citation needed|date=August 2024}} He was elected to The London Group in 1955.{{citation needed|date=August 2024}} He worked in studios in the East End of London from 1970 onwards.{{citation needed|date=August 2024}}
In the early 1950s, Bert met and was hugely influenced by many of the "St Ives" artists including Peter Lanyon, Roger Hilton, Terry Frost and Sandra Blow.{{citation needed|date=August 2024}}
Irvin won a major Arts Council Award in 1975 and a Gulbenkian Award for printmaking in 1983. He was elected a Royal Academician in 1998.{{cite news|url=https://www.ackermanstudios.com/albert-irvin-autographic-marks#:~:text=Irvin%20won%20a%20major%20Arts,a%20Royal%20Academician%20in%201998.&text=The%20exhibition%20is%20displayed%20throughout,Lane%20and%20is%20open%20daily.|title=Albert Irvin: Autographic Marks|work=Ackerman Studios}}
His work is widely exhibited both in the UK and abroad, in such places as Arts Council of Great Britain, Birmingham City Art Gallery, the Chase Manhattan Bank, the Contemporary Art Society, Manchester City Art Gallery, Whitworth Gallery Manchester, Leeds City Gallery Tate Britain, the Victoria and Albert Museum Oxford University, Cambridge University and Warwick University Arts Centre.[http://www.rwa.org.uk/airwin.htm Albert Irvin Hon RWA] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080609052200/http://www.rwa.org.uk/airwin.htm |date=9 June 2008 }}
His influences included Walter Sickert, Henri Matisse, J. M. W. Turner, Jack Smith and Edward Middleditch.[http://www.reddotbooks.co.uk/albert-irvin-painting-into-life-p-836.html Albert Irvin: Painting into Life] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080829204710/http://www.reddotbooks.co.uk/albert-irvin-painting-into-life-p-836.html |date=29 August 2008 }}
Irvin was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2013 Birthday Honours for services to the visual arts.{{London Gazette|issue=60534|supp=y|page=11|date=15 June 2013}}
Irvin married Beatrice Olive Nicolson in August 1947.Anna Dyke interview Irvin died in Tooting, London on 26 March 2015, at the age of 92.{{cite web |title=Albert Irvin obituary |date=2015-03-27 |website=The Guardian |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221206181201/https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2015/mar/27/albert-irvin |archive-date=2022-12-06 |url-status=live |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2015/mar/27/albert-irvin}} His wife survived him, and died in Tooting in September 2015, at the age of 93.[http://eprints.glos.ac.uk/6958/2/Stewart%20Geddes%20-%20Albert%20Irvin%20and%20Abstract%20Expressionism%27%20catalogue%20.pdf Albert Irvin and Abstract Expressionism]
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{Art UK bio}}
- [http://www.gimpelfils.com/pages/artists/artist.php?artistindex=8&subsec=1 Gimpel Fils]
- [http://albert-irvin.com/ Official website]
- {{YouTube|7F4l1A_AsAw|TateShots: Irvin at Tate Stores (video interview)}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Irvin, Albert}}
Category:20th-century English printmakers
Category:20th-century English painters
Category:21st-century English painters
Category:Abstract expressionist artists
Category:British abstract painters
Category:Academics of Goldsmiths, University of London
Category:Alumni of Goldsmiths, University of London
Category:English male painters
Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire
Category:Royal Air Force personnel of World War II