Michael Andrews: Painter of Masterpieces

Michael Andrews (1928–1995) is probably one of the least known but one of the most important British artists of the twentieth century and his aptitude for painting only masterpieces has been noted on more than one occasion

Andrews friendship from early in his career with Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud, Frank Auerbach and Leon Kossoff led to his identification as an artist belonging to the ‘School of London’. However, his work also demanded close attention as he addressed fundamental issues that are imbued with a universal relevance.

His early figurative paintings, dating from the 1950s and 1960s, were directly inspired by the political and social changes associated with post-imperial Britain. From the 1970s, Andrews pursued a wider range of themes arising from his growing interest in philosophy and psychology, as revealed in his two-great series of works, Lights I–VII (1970–74) and School I–IV (1977–8). Inspired by his home county of Norfolk, he was increasingly engaged with landscape painting, often on a large scale. His comparatively small output concluded with three depictions of the River Thames begun in 1992, just before he was diagnosed with cancer; as such, these works have the profundity of an allegory of life.

Distributed for Modern Art Press