ALBERT IRWIN OBE

Bert Irwin was born in South London, and after a brief spell at art school he joined the RAF in 1941 as a navigator. After his military service, he began painting again, in a traditional figurative style. Then, in 1956, he went to an Tate exhibition of American Abstract Expressionists, such as Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko. “It was like a bomb going off!”, and his artistic career changed completely.

He was convinced of the need to express truths about the world without depicting things to paint reality without resorting to imitation. “Can I make a painting about a human being, about the human spirit, without having to paint noses and feet?”.

He formed friendships with many in the St Ives group, such as Terry Frost and Willie Barnes-Graham, and visited regularly. Being a Londoner through and through, he continued to keep his studio in Stepney, and painted into his nineties.

His style is one of exuberant colour, with vigorous brush strokes - full of vitality and energy. One of his favourite commissions was to do a large piece for a maternity hospital.

He delighted at the thought of new born babies coming in to early contact with a wall of bright colour!

He was a life long Arsenal supporter.