William John Bertram Newcombe was born in Victoria, British Columbia and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia. He lived in Toronto, Ontario (1936–55) and London, England (1955–69), where he died. His mediums included oil, watercolor, gouache, pen & ink, collage and mixed mediums. His subjects included faces, figures, landscapes, street scenes, country roads, coastal views and as an abstractionist – shape, color and texture. Newcombe’s styles included Abstract Expressionism, Colour Field Painting, Constructivism, Fauvism and Cubism. He’s considered self-taught, however, most sources note that he did take some private lessons in Vancouver with Group of Seven icon, Frederick Varley. Newcombe was a member of the Canadian Society of Graphic Art (c. 1950) and its president and a member of the California Watercolor Society (1947). In addition to the above organizations, he exhibited with the Art Association of Montreal [now Montreal Museum of Fine Arts] (1933), the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts (1938, 1947 and 1953), the Ontario Society of Artists (1941) and the American Watercolor Society (1947 and 1948). Newcombe’s works were also included in a Canadian Women’s Art Association exhibition, Vancouver Art Gallery (1946); “Canadians Abroad”, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto (1958); “Irish Exhibition of Living Art”, Brown Thomas Gallery, Dublin (1958); “Canadian Abstract Art: A Centennial Exhibition”, Commonwealth Institute Art Gallery, London, England (1967); and “The 1950s”, Laurentian University Museum and Arts Centre, Sudbury, Ontario and touring (1988). He’s had solo exhibitions at Stadtisches Museum Wuppertal, Germany (1957); Manchester City Art Gallery, England (1961); Manor House Museum, Ilkley, England (1962); the Arts Council, Karachi, Pakistan (1964); and the County Town Gallery, Lewes, England (1964). Newcombe has also been the subject of one-man shows at numerous prominent commercial galleries.
