After World War II, Abstraction became a much more powerful force in modern art than it had ever been before. During the 1950s, Frank Avray Wilson, William Gear and Robyn Denny practised ‘Tachisme’, a free, improvisatory abstraction. By the mid sixties many of the abstract painters delved into Hard-edge Abstraction. Denny, leaving the ‘Tachist’ spirit altogether, progressed to paint large brooding and often sombre works. John Plumb revels in colour and Hard-edged dynamism often on a scale usually only contemplated by the American abstractionists.

The more lyrical side of Hard-edge painting is represented by the work of Patrick Heron. Works by Paule Vézelay and by Vera Spencer on the other hand illustrate the more delicate rhythms of Hard-edge Abstraction.

Pop Art reacted heavily against the dominance of Abstraction and introduced a revival of figurative art. British Pop Art as a movement gathered momentum at the 1961 Young Contemporaries Exhibition where the 1958-63 generation of students at the London Royal College of Art showed as a group. Its original participants included Sir Peter Blake, Derek Boshier, Allen Jones, Peter Phillips and Colin Self, whose works are all included in this exhibition. In addition, Whitford Fine Art will show works by Antony Donaldson, Adrian Henri and Clive Barker. At the same time during the 1960s Abstraction flourished under the form of Op Art. On show at Whitford Fine Art will be major Op Art works by Michael Kidner, Peter Sedgley, and Jeremy Moon.

This exhibition captures the excitement which gripped Britain after the Second World War. It was an age of experiment and 'cool', practised through bold colours, large canvasses, odd shapes, psychedelic optical illusions and sexy Pop Art imagery and became known as the legendary Swinging Sixties.

A fully illustrated catalogue will accompany the exhibition.

Preview: Wednesday 21st May 2008
6pm - 9pm

Location Information: Whitford Fine Art
6, Duke Street St James's
London SW1Y 6BN