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Victor Pasmore 1908–1998
Relief Construction in White, Black and Ochre 1964-66 Oil, perspex, wood and formica 22 ½ x 20 inches (57 x 61 cm) PROVENANCE Private Collection, United Kingdom (purchased in 1966). Remaining in the same private collection since its acquisition from the artist in 1966, Relief Construction in White, Black and Ochre is a rare example of Pasmore's relief constructions still in private hands and to appear on the market. During the 1950s and 1960s Victor Pasmore emerged as one of the most influential figures in the development of British abstract art. Having begun his career as a painter of lyrical landscapes, he made a radical shift towards abstraction during the 1940s, embracing the principles of Constructivism and geometric form. By the early 1950s he had abandoned figuration altogether, becoming one of the leading advocates for abstraction in Britain. The present work belongs to the mature phase of Pasmore's relief constructions, a body of work through which he sought to extend painting into three dimensions. Combining painted surfaces with perspex, wood and formica, it forms a carefully balanced arrangement of intersecting planes that project into real space. The restrained palette of white, black and ochre emphasises structural clarity while directing attention to the subtle interplay of light, shadow and transparency. Influenced by modernist architecture and urban design, Pasmore treated colour, material and geometry as elements within an architectural system. These works actively engage with their surroundings, changing as the viewer moves around them and as light passes across their surfaces. By the mid-1960s Pasmore had become one of the foremost exponents of abstraction in Britain, teaching at King's College Durham and contributing to major architectural projects, including the experimental new town of Peterlee. Representing the culmination of his exploration of relief construction before his move to Malta in 1966, Relief Construction in White, Black and Ochre stands among the most refined and elegant expressions of Pasmore's mature abstract vision. |
