Derrick Greaves 1927-2022
Images
Biography
Derrick Greaves was one of the most important British painters of the last half century. Greaves initially gained acclaim in the 1950s, when he represented Britain at the Venice Biennale along with the other 'Kitchen-Sink' painters with whom he was associated: John Bratby, Edward Middleditch and Jack Smith. Subsequently, his work developed from the social realism of the 1950s to a more heraldic style that paralleled 1960s Pop Art, from an imagery based on nature and observable fact to more studio-bound imaginative constructs.
The Estate of Derrick Greaves is represented by James Hyman Gallery.
Works
Exhibitions
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DERRICK GREAVES. CHROMA
10 Feb - 16 Mar 2025James Hyman Gallery is delighted to present the online exhibition, Derrick Greaves. Chroma . The exhibition coincides with his museum show, Derrick Greaves. Art Worlds, at the Graves Arts Gallery Sheffield (25 January – 21 May 2025) Derrick Greaves. Chroma celebrates Greaves work as a colourist and presents works in...Read more -
Celebrating 25 Years of James Hyman Gallery
27 Oct - 20 Dec 202427th October 2024 marks twenty five years since the founding of James Hyman Fine Art in 1999. To mark this anniversary we are staging a special online exhibition. Based in St James’s and Mayfair for most of this time, the gallery has specialised in Twentieth Century British Art with a...Read more -
Modern British Art 2024
Rarities. An Online Exhibition 19 Jul - 1 Sep 2024We are pleased to present this summer selection of 20th Century British works. The focus is on rarities. These include previously unrecorded photographs by John Deakin, a rare 1960s Derrick Greaves, one of Kossoff’s largest and most powerful portrait works on paper, historically important works by Eduardo Paolozzi and Nigel...Read more -
Modern British Art
1 Sep - 23 Dec 2022Tony Bevan, Prunella Clough, John Davies, Derrick Greaves, Nigel Henderson, Leon Kossoff, Edward Middleditch, Peter Phillips, Paula Rego, Walter Richard Sickert, Jack Smith and Aubrey Williams.Read more -
Derrick Greaves. From Shangri La to the Walled Garden
A 95th Birthday Celebration 17 Jun - 26 Aug 2022From Shangri-La to the Walled Garden includes paintings, watercolours and collages made during the last 15 years. The climax is a group of large-scale paintings made over the last two years that are an exhilarating assertion of the extraordinary inventive energy of this major figure in British Art. James Hyman...Read more -
Modern British Art 2022
29 Mar - 31 May 2022Read more -
Derrick Greaves. A Walk Through a Life
Recent Paintings and Collages 20 Sep - 30 Oct 2021Something new has happened in the recent paintings and collages of Derrick Greaves. Made during an intense period of lock-down creativity during 2020 and 2021, these latest works are for the first time consciously self-referential. Three magisterial large scale canvases The Golden Tree , Early Blossom and Blossom (Two Trees)...Read more -
Masterpieces of Twentieth-Century British Art
25 Mar - 25 May 2021Michael Andrews Colony Room Mural is an icon of British cultural history by one of the most important British artists of the twentieth century. Painted on canvas, this picture was installed at the famous Colony Room Club in Soho for half a century until its closure in 2008. After cleaning...Read more -
Special Charity Fundraiser for The Trussell Trust
7 - 30 Dec 2020The Trussell Trust supports a nationwide network of food banks to provide emergency food and support to people locked in poverty, and campaigns for change to end the need for food banks in the UK. James Hyman, Gallery Director, said: This year we have presented a series of online fundraising...Read more -
Derrick Greaves. Blossom
16 May - 16 Jul 2020It is April 10th. Early morning. Time for our daily walk. We have been in quarantine after a family member caught the coronavirus and depressed after a young friend died of the virus. But now we are out again. Out in the garden and out on our neighbouring streets. The...Read more -
Special Fundraising Sale for the National Health Service
29 Mar - 29 May 2020Unfortunately, NHS Hospital staff, on the front line in the treatment of patients with Covid-19, are still working without the proper PPE (personal protective equipment), and there remains a shortage of testing kits and ventilators. As everyone pulls together I have been thinking what I can do as an art...Read more -
Derrick Greaves. Irises, Etc.
Recent Paintings and Watercolours 8 Dec 2018 - 25 Mar 2019Now 91 and still working in his studio each day, Derrick Greaves is one of the most important British painters of the last seventy years. Greaves initially gained acclaim in the 1950s, when he represented Britain at the Venice Biennale along with the other 'Kitchen-Sink' painters with whom he was...Read more -
Twentieth Century British Art 2018
Annual exhibition of Modern British paintings, drawings and sculpture. 18 - 27 Jan 2018Read more -
Derrick Greaves
The Psychiatrist's Cat and Other Recent Paintings 5 Nov - 18 Dec 2015Derrick Greaves is one of the most important painters in Britain and is extensively represented in museum and public collections. Greaves initially gained acclaim in the 1950s, when he represented Britain at the Venice Biennale along with the other 'Kitchen-Sink' painters with whom he was initially associated: John Bratby, Edward...Read more -
Derrick Greaves
All Blues 7 Jun - 5 Jul 2013Last summer we staged an exhibition of recent paintings entitled Derrick Greaves. Milestones that celebrated the artist's 85th birthday and we are delighted once more to be marking Derrick Greaves's birthday in June with a vibrant new exhibition. In the decade since our first exhibition of Derrick Greaves, he has...Read more -
Twentieth Century British Art 2012
6 - 21 Dec 2012Artists whose work is presented include: Frank Auerbach Tony Bevan John Bratby Edward Burra Jake & Dinos Chapman Geoffrey Clarke Prunella Clough John Davies Eric Gill David Hockney Gary Hume Conrow Maddox Robert Medley Paul Noble Hughie O'Donoghue Eduardo Paolozzi Peter Phillips Walter Richard Sickert Jack Smith William Turnbull and...Read more -
Derrick Greaves
Milestones 30 May - 22 Jun 2012James Hyman writes: I am honoured to present our seventh solo exhibition of work by Derrick Greaves. The exhibition is a special one for many reasons. Most importantly, it coincides with the artist's 85th Birthday on 5th June and the new paintings on show are an appropriately joyful celebration of...Read more -
From Ivon Hitchens to the Kitchen-Sink. Re-examining the British Pavilion at the Venice Biennale (1956)
26 Jan - 10 Mar 2012The British Pavilion at the Venice Biennale of 1956 is today chiefly remembered for its presentation of the kitchen-sink painters - John Bratby, Derrick Greaves, Edward Middleditch and Jack Smith. Certainly, it was a high point in their careers, but the Pavilion also included a gallery of paintings by Ivon...Read more -
Flatworld
Recent Prints and Drawings by Derrick Greaves 24 Jun - 26 Aug 2011Following a series of acclaimed exhibitions of paintings by Derrick Greaves at James Hyman Fine Art, this is the first time the gallery has presented an exhibition comprising solely of works on paper to highlight the foundation of the artist's practice. Flatworld presents a selection of recent prints and drawings...Read more -
Beyond the Human Clay
5 May - 18 Jun 2011In 1976 the great figurative painter and polemicist R.B. Kitaj organized a group exhibition for the Arts Council of Great Britain entitled The Human Clay. To mark the 35th anniversary of Kitaj's seminal exhibition and to celebrate a decade of exhibitions focused on Twentieth Century British figurative art at James...Read more -
Derrick Greaves. Nightingale and Other Recent Pictures
11 Jun - 10 Jul 2010The exhibition takes as its starting point a suite of new prints on the subject of the nightingale. Vibrant studies of the song bird and of nature, these pictures address recurring motifs in the natural world. The paintings in this exhibition point in new directions and reveal the ways in...Read more -
A Tribute to Sir Colin St John Wilson
21 Nov - 1 Dec 2007James Hyman is proud to present a personal tribute to Sir Colin St John Wilson, one of Britain's greatest architects and art collectors of the last half-century. The exhibition follows the death of Colin St John Wilson in May this year and coincides with the 10th anniversary of the opening...Read more -
Home and Away
Michael Andrews, Peter de Francia, Derrick Greaves, Robert Medley, Edward Middleditch, William Townsend, Arnold van Praag 12 Dec 2006 - 19 Jan 2007Read more -
Derrick Greaves. The Pleasures of Drawing
28 Jan - 4 Mar 2005One of the leading British Figurative Artists of the last fifty years, Derrick Greaves first gained acclaim in the mid 1950s as a `kitchen-sink' painter, along with John Bratby, Edward Middleditch and Jack Smith, whose work was celebrated for its bold, matter of fact presentation of prosaic subjects drawn from...Read more -
A Century of Drawing
Important modern British works on paper from the Camden Town School to Bridget Riley 2 Jul - 29 Aug 2003Read more -
Derrick Greaves
Paintings and Drawings. 1952-2002 12 Mar - 9 May 2003Derrick Greaves first gained acclaim in the mid 1950s as a `kitchen-sink' painter, whose work was celebrated for its bold, matter of fact presentation of prosaic subjects drawn from the external world. In the years since then, the artist has also increasingly drawn inspiration from dreams and the unconscious to...Read more -
Twentieth Century British Paintings and Drawings
1 Aug - 27 Sep 2002Read more
Publications
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Derrick Greaves: From Kitchen Sink to Shangri-La
James Hyman, 2007Hardback, 176 pagesRead more
Publisher: Lund Humphries
Dimensions: 30 x 26 cms -
Museum Quality
The Colony Room Mural and Other Important Modern British Works from James Hyman Gallery 2009Hardback, 48 pagesRead more
Publisher: James Hyman Gallery
Dimensions: 29.5 x 25 cms -
The Battle for Realism
Figurative Art in Britain during the Cold War 1945 - 60 James Hyman, 2001Hardback, 272 pagesRead more
ISBN: 0-300-09089-7
Dimensions: 28 x 23 cms
News
Events
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British Art Fair 2022
29 Sep - 2 Oct 2022Founded in 1988, British Art Fair is the only fair dedicated to Modern and contemporary British art. Each year, fifty leading dealers exhibit paintings, drawings,...Read more -
Masterpiece 2022
Around Pop: British Pop Art and its Legacy 29 Jun - 6 Jul 2022We are pleased to present a specially curated exhibition which addresses British Pop Art and its Legacy. The presentation begins with three of the founding...Read more -
London Art Fair 2022
20 - 24 Apr 2022We are looking forward to exhibiting at the rescheduled London Art Fair in April. Our specially curated presentation will focus on important Modern British paintings...Read more
Art Fairs
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British Art Fair 2022
29 Sep - 2 Oct 2022Founded in 1988, British Art Fair is the only fair dedicated to Modern and contemporary British art. Each year, fifty leading dealers exhibit paintings, drawings, prints and sculptures covering all...Read more -
Masterpiece 2022
Around Pop: British Pop Art and its Legacy 29 Jun - 6 Jul 2022We are pleased to present a specially curated exhibition which addresses British Pop Art and its Legacy. The presentation begins with three of the founding fathers of British Pop Art:...Read more -
London Art Fair 2022
20 - 24 Apr 2022We are looking forward to exhibiting at the rescheduled London Art Fair in April. Our specially curated presentation will focus on important Modern British paintings and works on paper. We...Read more -
Frieze Masters 2020
7 - 16 Oct 2020We are delighted to participate in Frieze Masters / Frieze Viewing Rooms, a new mobile app and web-based platform, that gives collectors the opportunity to explore and acquire art from...Read more