Cyril Gerber Fine Art

19th-21st Century British Drawings, Paintings & Sculpture

Press Release

Anthony Fry

Recent & New Work

19 August – 11 September 2010

Cyril Gerber Fine Art is proud to present the first Scottish showing of one of the most notable English painters of his

generation; Anthony Fry, with an exhibition of paintings, oil and tempera, watercolours and drawings.

The major sources of inspiration for Fry’s work; the dreamlike landscapes of the Equatorial zones, the nude in all its

permeations, and the shuttered spaces of meditative interiors, paintings and drawings from his travels in India, Morocco,

Greece, Turkey and Spain, all show Fry’s dexterity of form, and mastery of colour: incandescent, powerful and full of life.

His recent works are infused with vibrant colour, energy and insight. His enigmatic drawings reflect the tenderness of

relationships and contemplative observation of characters who appear in his paintings. The physicality of creating the

surface on his canvases is of great importance. Fry describes his method of painting as involving layering and scraping back,

often using the edge of his hand to sweep vibrant colour across the canvas, and is sometimes inspired by the texture of a tiny

fragment of bark, stimulating him to emulate this crusty surface with vivid pigment. The importance of drawing is always

present, and Fry uses the smallest of sable brushes to add detail.

Over the many years, Fry has spent the winters in his studio in the old Portuguese port of Cochin, Kerala. Fry says that he

needs heat to paint, and his work has been inspired by these annual trips. The dreamlike landscapes and figures are marked

by incandescent hues and richly textured surfaces, capturing the sense of space and light of the exotic subcontinents. John

Russell says of Fry: ‘Almost alone among the English painters of his generation, Fry reasserts the prestige of the dreamer’.

Born in 1927, Anthony Fry attended Edinburgh College of Art, tutored by William Gillies, and Chelsea School of Art with

Victor Pasmore, as well as Camberwell School of Arts. He became painting tutor at Chelsea School of Art and has held

tutorial positions in the painting schools of Camberwell, Bath, Slade, Ruskin College and Cornell University, USA. He was

awarded the Rome Scholarship, is a winner of the John Moore’s Prize, (Liverpool), a recipient of a Harkness Fellowship,

and the Lorne Fellowship (USA), where he was inspired by the American Abstract Expressionist Mark Rothko. His work is

held in several public collections including The Arts Council, UK; The Tate Gallery, London; The Saatchi Collection; The

Government Art Collection; The Stuyvesant Collection; The National Gallery of Victoria, Australia and many others. He

has had numerous solo exhibitions in the UK and futher afield, and is represented by Browse & Darby, London and Peter

Findlay Gallery, New York. This will be his first exhibition in Scotland.

Anthony and Sabrina Fry will be present at the Private View on Thursday 19 August from 5.30pm-8.00pm.

Volcano Man with Hyena, oil & tempera on canvas

For further information, please contact Jill Gerber or Jane Reith on 0141 221 3095

Cyril Gerber Fine Art, 148 West Regent Street, Glasgow, G2 2RQ www.gerberfineart.co.uk Open Mon-Fri 9.30-5.30, Sat 10.00-5.30