Arthur Easton ROI (1939 - 2024)

Statement

Born in Surrey in 1939, Arthur went to Reigate School of Art to study painting and printmaking. Then, to obtain a better understanding of handling light and shade, he went to Italy to study the Old Masters, winning the Diploma of Merit at Florence's University of the Arts.

A member of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters since 1979, Arthur was awarded the Royal Institute of Oil Painters' Stanley Grimm Prize - to the painter whose work receives the most votes from visitors to the exhibition - in 1992 and the Le Clerc Fowle Medal for the best group of paintings at the 2005 ROI Annual Exhibition. Arthur also taught for many years, one of his most notable pupils being Valerie Smith, who went on to become a fellow member of the ROI. 

In later life Arthur's work took a dramatic turn. The carefully arranged still lifes that won him the Le Clerc Fowle Medal, meticulously and sensitively painted in low-key colours often containing fruit to provide accent and emphasis, gave way to a new, bolder language consisting of abstract blocks of saturated colour, which were no less sensitive and carefully considered in their construction. 

The two paintings by Arthur displayed here, 'The Bath, Bucket and 283' and 'Field of Ripe Corn from the Shadows' have been chosen to represent these two distinct periods in Arthur's painting career.

Arthur regularly exhibited at the Royal Academy and the Mall Galleries, as well as galleries throughout the UK. His work is in public collections including the Museum of British Labour and the American Institute of Strategic Studies, and has been collected by HRH Princess Michael of Kent and George Michael, together with private collectors worldwide. 

Words and images reproduced by kind permission of the estate of Arthur Easton.