Composite Image (Sea Green)

Location

Country: Brazil
City: Brasilia
Place: British Embassy

What appears at first to be an abstract work, 'Composite Image (Sea Green)' by Victor Pasmore evokes a marine scene. The black line bisecting the mottled sand-coloured background has a simplicity that is reminiscent of the harmony, grace and economy of Chinese or Japanese calligraphy.

Up to the late 1940s, Pasmore’s work was almost entirely figurative. However, visiting the Picasso / Matisse exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1945 was a turning point after which he increasingly shifted towards abstraction, on which he focused solely by 1948.

His compositions have a sense of movement, rhythm and harmony much like a piece of music. In 1951 he commented that ‘...geometric forms…resemble the elements of music which are not drawn from any sounds, but from carefully selected and controlled notes produced from specially constructed instruments.’ 

Born in Chelsham, Surrey, Victor Pasmore studied at the Central School of Arts and Crafts and exhibited with the London Group between 1930-1934. In 1937, together with William Coldstream, Claude Rogers and Graham Bell, he founded the Euston Road School. Concerned with developing an objective approach to the depiction of everyday subjects, their paintings ran counter to the then fashionable Surrealist and Constructivist art movements. Pasmore taught at Camberwell School of Art from 1943 to 1949, and it was towards the end of this period that his practice shifted from representational to abstract art. 

Pasmore was awarded the CBE in 1959, and in 1960 represented Britain at the Venice Biennale. He gave up teaching in 1961 for full-time studio work, and exhibited more widely. In 1965, Pasmore and his wife Wendy Pasmore visited Malta for the first time and were instantly struck by the beauty of the island. Shortly after, they bought a farmhouse in Gudja and spent more time there. In 1981 Pasmore was made a Companion of Honour for his contribution to British art; and in 1983 elected a Royal Academician. He died in Malta in 1998.

Victor Pasmore was one of the leading British painters and printmakers of the twentieth century. He studied at the Central School of Arts and Crafts and began exhibiting with the London Group in 1930, becoming a member in 1934. Together with William Coldstream, Claude Rogers and Graham Bell, he founded the Euston Road School in 1937. Concerned with developing an objective approach to the depiction of everyday subjects, their paintings depicted realistic subjects in a realistic manner. Pasmore taught at the Camberwell School of Art from 1943 to 1949,and turned from representational to abstract art towards the end of this period. Awarded the CBE in 1959, his work was selected for the British Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 1960, after which he gave up teaching to focus on his art practice. He received a series of prizes for his graphic works in the 1970s and his work is represented in public collections throughout the world. He was made a Companion of Honour in 1981 and elected a Royal Academician two years later. He died in Malta in 1998.

Places

Subjects

abstract, Euston Road School

Materials & Techniques

panel, oil, oil painting

Artist

Victor Pasmore (1908 - 1998)

Title

Composite Image (Sea Green)

Date

1982

Medium

Oil on panel

Dimensions

height: 40.50 cm, width: 40.50 cm

Acquisition

Purchased from Marlborough Fine Art, March 1983

Inscription

br: VP

GAC number

16161