Albert Irvin

Albert Irvin (1922-2015) was an artist whose ebullient use of colour and bold linear strokes came to define the style of his more than seventy-year career.

At the core of Irvin’s work is the aim to represent reality and experience, avoiding imitation at all costs. His palette is always playful. From his early days - his greatest inspiration were the fluid shapes and tones of J. M. W. Turner - right up to his last decade of work, Irvin’s pieces capture the essence of what it is to be human in all its dizzying complexities. The colours pop and the layering of shapes ingeniously adds the depth he tries to convey.

Image: © John Hage/Gimpel Fils