LARGE JOHN MELVILLE OIL PAINTING, (British,1902-1986) SURREALIST -SIGNED-NO RES

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JOHN MELVILLE LARGE OIL PAINTING (British, 1902-1986) ORIGINAL SURREALIST MOUNTAINOUS LANDSCAPE OIL PAINTING THIS IS AN ORIGINAL PAINTING NOT A PRINT BIOGRAPHY MELVILLE, JOHN (British, 1902-1986)BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION John Melville was born in London but moved to Birmingham in his youth. He attended classes at the Birmingham College of Art but in effect was self-taught, and begun to paint full time towards the 1920s, spending most of his time in the Cotswolds until the early 1930s.His early paintings show a strong Cubist influence. In the early 1930s, he became a convert to Surrealism, and remained more or less faithful to surrealist ideas for the rest of his life. A member of the Birmingham Group in the 1930’s, he joined the Surrealist Group in 1938. Shortly afterwards, just before the onset of World War II, Melville published a series of pieces in the Surrealist publication London Bulletin, but a clear move towards painted portraits and still life was evident during the war.His first one-man show was held in 1932 at the Crescent Theatre, Birmingham; followed by an exhibition at the Wertheim Gallery, London - one of the most progressive avant-garde galleries around at the time.He participated at the Surrealist exhibition at the Zwemmer Gallery, London - landmark in history of British Surrealism.The Post War years brought about a change in his work, he turned more to conventional modernism. In the 1960s he reverted to Surrealism again adding a strong element of expressionism. He was working almost in total isolation towards the end of his life.Solo Exhibitons1932, Crescent Theatre, Birmingham; Wertheim Gallery, London1951, Hanover Gallery, London1967, R.B.S.A Galleries, Birmingham1969, Birmingham University, Birmingham1986, Retrospective, Blond Fine Art, London1987, Memorial Exhibition, Gothick Dream Fine Art1996, Retrospective, Westbourne Gallery 62, London2006, John Melville: A 'Marvellous' English Artist - A Personal Journey to Surrealism and Beyond, The Millinery Works Art Gallery, LondonGroup Exhibitons1930, Modern English Watercolour Society, St George's Gallery, London1933, Tenwties Group Exhibition, Wertheim Gallery, London1938, Realism and Surrealism, Gloucester1939, London Gallery, London1940, Surrealist Exhibition, Zwemmer Gallery, London1942, Renzios 2nd Surrealist Exhibition1945, Four Birmingham Artists, Birmingham City Art Gallery1949, The Birmingham Artists Committee Invitation Exhibition Royal Birmingham Society of Artists Galleries and then Bilston Corporation Art Gallery1955, Zwemmer Gallery, London; New English Art Club, R.B.A Galleries, London1971, Hamet Gallery, London1974, Ikon Gallery, Birmingham1978, Dada and Surrealism Reviewed, Hayward Gallery, London1982, Les Enfants d’Alice, La Peinture Surrealiste 1930 - 1960 en Angleterre, Galarie 1900-2000, Paris1985, A Salute to British Surrealism, 1930 - 1950 which toured The Minories, Colchester; Blond Fine Art, London; The Ferens Hall Art Gallery, Hull MEDIUM; Oil painting on paper DATE Circa 1950's PROVENANCE Part of the Colin Madden collection SIZE: Image size 25 x 17 inches Unframed DESCRIPTION; This is an original oil painting on paper. It is unframed and was bought along with other mixed works from a collector's collection, who bought most of Melville's studio works when Melville died in the late 80s. I still have quite a few works from this collection by this surrealist artist one of the few British surrealists to be recognised by the art world. This image is a large surrealist mountainous landscape with bold colours and free flowing broad strokes and shapes shapes looks almost like a flowing torrent or glacier running down a mountain, and it is signed J Melville bottom right and is in... read more

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