William Gear 1915 - 1997

Born in Methil, Fife, Scotland in 1915, Gear studied Fine Art at Edinburgh College of Art between 1932-36 before studying Art History at Edinburgh University in 1937. On a travelling scholarship he studied with Leger in Paris. After serving in the Signals Corps during WWII, Gear lived in Paris from 1947-50 where he met Soulage and Poliakoff. While in Europe he exhibited with the CoBrA group in Amsterdam. Gear was Curator of the Towner Art Gallery, Eastbourne from 1958-64 and Head of Fine Art at Birmingham College of Art from 1964-75. He was made an RA in 1995 and died in Birmingham in 1997.

works in the collection - 2

PAC/083

Gear's close association with the CoBrA group in Europe and his awareness of American Abstract Expressionism positioned him as one of Britain's leading abstract painters during the 1950s. In 1951 he was awarded the Purchase Prize at the Festival of Britain exhibition 60 Paintings for '51, resulting in controversy over the jury's selection of a non-representational work.

Study in Grey, 1953


PAC/084

Element, 1955