VICTOR PASMORE “UNTITLED ABSTRACT” 1975

VICTOR PASMORE (BRITISH, 1908–1998)
ETCHING AND AQUATINT ON PAPER, BEARS A REVERSED IN-PLATE INITIAL MONOGRAM “VP”, INSCRIBED ALONG THE LOWER WHITE MARGIN IN PENCIL: NUMBERED “4/55” LOWER LEFT AND SIGNED WITH HIS DISTINCT COMBINED INITIAL MONOGRAM “VP” AND DATED “’75” TO THE LOWER RIGHT
A STRIKING GEOMETRIC ABSTRACT INTAGLIO PRINT BY RENOWNED BRITISH MODERNIST VICTOR PASMORE, EXECUTED IN HIS LYRICAL LINEAR STYLE DURING HIS EXSTENSIVE RESIDENCY IN MALTA. THE COMPOSITION CONFRONTS THE VIEWER WITH A CENTRAL, TEXTURED AQUATINT SHAPE IN AN EARTHEN SMOKED-CHARCOAL TONE, PIERCED BY A SHARP STARK BLACK VERTICAL BAND SEVERED BY THE EMBOSSED MARGINS, ACCOMPANIED BY A MINIMALIST BALANCING DOT ELEMENT ALONG THE LEFT MATRIX FIELD.
24 X 28 IN SHEET
26.5 X 30.5 IN FRAMED, FRAMED WITHOUT GLASS
VICTOR PASMORE WAS A PIONEERING FIGURE IN BRITISH ABSTRACT ART AND A KEY PROPONENT OF THE RESTRUCTURING OF ART EDUCATION AND ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN IN THE POST-WAR ERA. BORN IN SURREY, ENGLAND, HE WAS A FOUNDING MEMBER OF THE INFLUENTIAL EUSTON ROAD SCHOOL IN 1937, PRODUCING LYRICAL AND ATMOSPHERIC FIGURATIVE LANDSCAPES AND STILL LIFES BEFORE UNDERGOING A RADICAL COMPONENTAL SHIFT TO CRITICAL GEOMETRIC ABSTRACTION AND CONSTRUCTIVISM IN THE LATE 1940S. HIS MULTI-FACETED PRACTICE EXPANDED TO INCLUDE BOLD THREE-DIMENSIONAL WALL RELIEFS, STRUCTURAL DESIGN AND ARCHITECTURAL PROJECTS—MOST NOTABLY SERVING AS THE MASTER DESIGNER FOR THE APOLLO PAVILION AND PETERLEE NEW TOWN COMPANION SCHEMES. IN 1966, HE RELOCATED TO MALTA, WHERE HIS WORK EVOLVED INTO A FLUID GRAPHIC SYSTEM CHARACTERIZED BY POETIC GRAPHIC FORMS, LYRICAL HARD LINES, AND INTEGRATED AQUATINT SURFACE TREATMENTS PRODUCED BY THE LARGEST CONTINENTAL PRINTING STUDIOS, ULTIMATELY SECURING AN UNASSAILABLE LEGACY IN THE TRAJECTORY OF BRITISH MODERNISM.