Anthony Whishaw, RA
Anthony Whishaw, RA (b. 1930, London, UK) is an English artist and member of the Royal Academy, who lives and works in London.
Whishaw’s œuvre, spanning over seven decades, defies categorisation. It is rich and diverse, monumental yet sensitive, thoughtful, often whimsical, and above all, timeless and unexpected. He has never aligned himself with any particular group or school. As a painter he constantly seeks to surprise himself discovering unexpected images and experimenting with different visual languages through explorations of themes, scale and media.
He admits to working on many ideas concurrently, with some paintings being worked on over many years, a process that often leads to unique, unpredictable hybrids.
Whishaw studied at Chelsea School of Art (awarded NDD) and the Royal College of Art, where he was awarded the ARCA (first class hons).
He has had numerous solo shows throughout the UK, including the ICA, London (1971); the Oxford Gallery, Oxford (1978); Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge (1982); Royal Academy of Arts (1987); and the Barbican Centre (1994).
Received awards include the RCA Drawing Prize (1954); Perth International Drawing Biennale Prize (1973); South East Arts Association Painting Prize (1975); Arts Council of Great Britain Award (1978); Greater London Council Painting Prize (1981); Abbey Premier Scholarship (1982), John Moores Minor Painting Prize (1982); Lorne Scholarship (1982-3); Joint winner Hunting Group National Art Competition (1986); and Korn Ferry Carre Oban International Picture of the Year in 1996.
“I am involved with both depiction and abstraction, illusion/allusion and especially the idea of images micro seconds before perception.
Each painting and work on paper makes its own separate demands, from maverick impishness to the solemnity of Nature and its forces, and can range from the attempt to depict the depth of celestial space down to the microscopic mini space of electro-chemical activity in the brain.”
- A. Whishaw
exhibition: silent traces ~ December 2021
Exhibition: Art Rooms | summer selection ~ June - August 2017
exhibition: art rooms | the inaugural edition ~ april 2016
Life Class, 1973
Ink and wash on paper
20 x 26 cm.
[Ref. AW2]
Judgement of Paris, 2005
acrylic and ink on paper
19 x 28 cm.
[Ref. AW3]
Valley (Blue), 1977
acrylic on canvas
183 x 122 cm.
[Ref. AW1]
Valley (Blue) is part of a series inspired by the Catalonian Pyrenees and painted over a period of several years in the 1970s. It is the last available painting from the series as its sister pieces form part of the Government Art Collection.