Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 6

Richard Allen
Diacross (Purple and Green) by Richard Allen, 1971

1971

$3,097.67
£2,250
€2,686.74
CA$4,241
A$4,771.51
CHF 2,528.13
MX$58,922.18
NOK 30,992.25
SEK 29,779.28
DKK 20,041.46
Shipping
Retrieving quote...
The 1stDibs Promise:
Authenticity Guarantee,
Money-Back Guarantee,
24-Hour Cancellation

About the Item

Diacross (Purple and Green) by Richard Allen, 1971 Additional information: Medium: screenprint 58 x 56 cm 22 7/8 x 22 1/8 in signed, dated and numbered 3/35 in pencil Richard Allen was an Abstract artist of the 20th century who worked across painting, graphic and technological media. Allen was born in Worcester in 1933. Influenced by his father, he attended Shropshire Institute of Agriculture where he studied for a National Diploma. From there he became aware of what he considered his “irrational” yet unshakeable interest in art, since the College shared buildings with Worcester School of Art. Upon the advice of his window-cleaner Bob, Allen decided to apply to the School. Whilst in Worcester he attended Geoffrey Whiting’s pottery course. Allen took national service in 1952 during the Korean War, serving as an engineer. He returned to Worcester in 1954 to study for his A levels and NDD, after which he attended Bath Academy of Art, Corsham, in 1957. He embraced Bath's unconventional teaching of that time and developed a keen interest in abstract painting. In 1959, his last year at Bath, he was commissioned to make a 15 x 9 foot abstract mosaic for a Wiltshire college, in which the first signs of Allen's grid construction, and blocks of colour within a grid, are seen to appear. In 1960 he won an Italian Government Scholarship in Art to study in Ravenna. After only three months in Ravenna, working on restoration of Byzantine mosaics, he moved to the more lively city of Milan in which he worked with large-scale mosaic production. These commercialised mosaics informed his later works, and Allen considers his time in Milan to be one of fruitful cultural interaction. He married fellow Bath Academy of Art student Eve Laurens the next year, and began teaching part time. He taught at Croydon College of Art for eight years, during which time he began working on his Op Art paintings and was awarded the title of Commonwealth Scholar in Art and Architecture. The scholarship gave him the opportunity to study in the Indian Institute for Advanced Studies in Shimla for a year, during which he was able to travel India extensively. During his time in London Allen worked alongside such figures as Bridget Riley and Bruce McLean, their commitment to artistic professionalism informing his own identity as an artist. Allen started experimenting with line, colour, optical effects and the relationship between art and science. His Op Art works relied upon Interferometry, allowing him to lay grid lines over paintings to create visual manipulations. In 1967 he had his first solo exhibition at the University of Sussex. In 1971 he was invited by Malcolm Hughes to join the Matrix group of artists, whose exhibition opened at the Arnolfini Gallery that year which led to a further exhibition at the Whitechapel gallery the following year. The Matrix group was concerned with Systematic painting, which worked to create images that consciously reveal their own methods of construction. This led to his involvement with the Systems movement in music, with performances often accompanying the openings of System exhibitions. Concern with systems informed Allen’s work throughout his life. In 1972 Allen returned to graphic works, namely making large-scale charcoal pieces on canvas. His work at this time was still very much based on the grid and cross. His work was included in the Hayward gallery British painting Exhibition in the mid 1970s, and was also displayed in a solo exhibition at the London Institute of Contemporary Arts. Allen moved to Jersey in 1977, where he continued working with charcoal and exhibiting internationally. The minimalist exhibition ‘Fundamental Painting’ in Amsterdam, 1975, inspired Allen to put together a similar English exhibition. His position on the Committee of the Art Information Registry/Air and Space, enabled him to work on this. The exhibition was held in the Air Gallery in Charing Cross and led to his curation of Fundamental Painting exhibitions in Holland, Belgium, France and Italy. In 1991 he returned to England and began working on his "white paintings", having not worked with colour for twenty years, which were to be his last works. Shortly after his wife Eve died in 1997 he was diagnosed with Motor Neuron Disease. Allen began working with specially adapted computer software but the rapid onset of the disease prevented him from making any progress. Richard Allen died in 1999.
  • Creator:
    Richard Allen (1933 - 1999, British)
  • Creation Year:
    1971
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 22.875 in (58.11 cm)Width: 22.125 in (56.2 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    Kingsclere, GB
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU2718214576892

More From This Seller

View All
Areas Contrasted, from A Poem for Alexander, Brown and White Abstract Print 1972
By William Scott
Located in Kingsclere, GB
Areas Contrasted, from A Poem for Alexander by William Scott, 1972 Additional information: Medium: screenprint 56.9 x 77.5 cm 22 3/8 x 30 1/2 in signed, dated and inscribed A/P in p...
Category

20th Century Abstract Prints

Materials

Screen

Adytum S III, Neutral Tone Linear Abstract Screen Print, 1974
By Paul Feiler
Located in Kingsclere, GB
Adytum S III, 1974 signed, dated, titled and numbered 13/75 in pencil screenprint in colours on wove 31 1/8 x 23 1/4 in 79 x 59 cm
Category

20th Century Prints and Multiples

Materials

Screen

Adytum S II - Tonal Abstract Stripes with White and Brown Screenprint, 1973
By Paul Feiler
Located in Kingsclere, GB
Adytum S II, 1973 signed, dated, titled and numbered in pencil screenprint 31 1/2 x 22 7/8 in 80 x 58 cm
Category

20th Century Prints and Multiples

Materials

Screen

The Clifford Suite VI, Blue and Purple Abstract Print, 1972
By Peter Stroud
Located in Kingsclere, GB
The Clifford Suite VI by Peter Stroud, 1972 Additional information: Medium: screenprint 38 x 42.5 cm 15 x 16 3/4 in signed, dated and numbered in pencil
Category

20th Century Abstract Prints

Materials

Screen

Spring, from The Four Seasons by Richard Lin, 1966
By Richard Lin
Located in Kingsclere, GB
Spring, from The Four Seasons by Richard Lin, 1966 Additional information: Medium: screenprint on TH Saunders paper 68.5 x 91 cm 27 x 35 7/8 in inscribed 'Proof' in pencil Born in ...
Category

20th Century Abstract Prints

Materials

Screen

Indian View G by Howard Hodgkin, 1971
By Howard Hodgkin
Located in Kingsclere, GB
Indian View G by Howard Hodgkin, 1971 Additional information: Medium: screenprint in colours on J Green, printed to the edges 22 7/8 x 30 1/2 in 58 x 77.5 cm signed, dated and numbered 46/75 in pencil Hodgkin was born in London and grew up in Hammersmith Terrace. During World War II he was evacuated to Long Island, New York, for three years. In the Museum of Modern Art, New York, he saw works by School of Paris artists such as Henri Matisse, Édouard Vuillard, and Pierre Bonnard, which he could not easily have seen then in London or Paris. Back in England in 1943, Hodgkin ran away from Eton College and Bryanston School, convinced that education would impede his progress as an artist, though he encountered inspiring teachers at both schools. He then attended Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts (1949–50) and Bath Academy of Art, Corsham (1950–54). Hodgkin never belonged to a school or group. While many of his contemporaries were drawn to Pop or the School of London, he remained independent, initially marking his outsider status with a series of portraits of contemporary artists and their families. His first solo exhibition was at Arthur Tooth and Sons in London in 1962. Two years later he first visited India, following his interest in Indian miniatures, which began during his time at Eton. Collecting Indian art would remain a lifelong passion, which he initially supported by dealing in picture frames. In 1984 Hodgkin represented Britain at the Biennale di Venezia. His exhibition Forty Paintings reopened the Whitechapel Gallery, London, in 1985, and he won the Turner Prize the same year. In 1995–96 Hodgkin had an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, which travelled to the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Texas; Kunstverein für die Rheinlande und Westfalen, Düsseldorf; and Hayward Gallery, London. His first full retrospective opened at the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, in 2006 and traveled to Tate Britain, London, and Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid. In the autumn of 2016 Hodgkin visited India for what was to be the last time, completing six new paintings before his return to London. These works were shown at England’s Hepworth Wakefield in 2017, in Painting India, a show that focused on the artist’s long-standing relationship with the Indian subcontinent. Starting in the 1950s, Hodgkin maintained a parallel printmaking practice, translating his visual language into works on paper. Exploring the interactions of color and space on a grander scale, he produced theatrical set designs for Ballet Rambert, the Royal Ballet, and the Mark Morris Dance Group. His black stone and white marble mural...
Category

20th Century Abstract Prints

Materials

Screen

You May Also Like

Victor Vasarely "Axo-Charga" Hand-Signed Limited Edition Serigraph, Framed
By Victor Vasarely
Located in Miami, FL
"AXO-CHARGA" BY VICTOR VASARELY (1906-1997) Serigraph on Black Paper ⚜ Signed ⚜ Numbered ⚜ Framed A VISIONARY MASTERWORK OF OP ART "Axo-Charga" is a striking original serigraph by V...
Category

1970s Op Art Abstract Prints

Materials

Screen, Paper

Pulsar
By Roy Ahlgren
Located in Fairlawn, OH
11 value silkscreen print Signed, dated, titled and numbered in pencil by the artist. Edition of 150, plus 20 AP's as is here AP XV/XX. Provenance: Estate of the Artist By dece...
Category

1980s Op Art Abstract Prints

Materials

Screen

Solar Imp
By Helen Frankenthaler
Located in New York, NY
Screenprint in colors on wove paper. Signed by the artist in pencil and also numbered 96/126 in pencil. Published by Lincoln Center List Poster and Print Program, New York. Second ...
Category

Early 2000s Abstract Expressionist Abstract Prints

Materials

Screen, Color

Red-Green Rosso-Verde - Italian Art Minimalism Abstract PVC
By Antonio Calderara
Located in London, GB
This original screenprint diptych in colours are each hand signed in pencil by the artist with his monogram "A. C." at the lower left margins. Each are dated “1973” next to the sign...
Category

1970s Abstract Abstract Prints

Materials

PVC, Screen

Une Bouchee D'Amour (signed presentation print by female photorealist artist)
By Audrey Flack
Located in New York, NY
Audrey Flack Une Bouchee D'Amour, 2013 Mixed media: Digitized drawing with silkscreen Signed, titled and numbered recto (front) in graphite pencil Annotated presentation proof Frame included: in elegant vintage wood frame Print Club of New York, Publisher; Printer: Experimental Printmaking Institute, Lafayette College, Easton, PA Digitized drawing with silkscreen Flack's "Une Bouchee d'Amour" was the 2013 presentation print commissioned by The Print Club of New York, and it is accompanied by a COA issued by the Print Club of NY as well as Alpha 137...
Category

2010s Photorealist Abstract Prints

Materials

Mixed Media, Digital, Screen, Pencil, Graphite

Infinity Umbrella
By Yayoi Kusama
Located in New York, NY
Yayoi Kusama Infinity Umbrella, 2014 Silkscreen on 100% polyester umbrella with plastic handle 37 × 54 × 54 inches This limited edition silkscreened umbrella was created exclusively...
Category

2010s Pop Art Abstract Prints

Materials

Plastic, Polyester, Screen