One of the most independent of David Bomberg's students at the Borough Polytechnic (now London South Bank University), Miles Richmond established a singular career after moving to Spain in the 1950s, where he worked for decades in Ronda.
Although he painted constantly - be it Ronda, London or especially Yorkshire - he rarely exhibited his work and in fact nurtured a deep distrust of art dealers. Instead, working largely in isolation, he developed an intense, empirical colourism by blending Bomberg’s postwar 'immaterialism’ with Blakeian metaphysics, Cézanne's tenets and, above all, his own amateur interest in science.
Running concurrently with exhibitions at Waterhouse & Dodd (Borough: David Bomberg and his students at the Borough Polytechnic), James Hyman's show of works by Dennis Creffield, and the Tate's major Frank Auerbach exhibition, Messum's show of Richmond's distinct work offers collectors a remarkable opportunity to further explore this significant period in postwar British painting.
The exhibition features over 30 oils, watercolours and charcoals (almost all of which have never been exhibited before) and includes works from Richmond's Borough period; early Ronda landscapes painted when he lived and worked alongside Bomberg; still lifes, portraits and landscapes from his pivotal later period, and two works related to his most ambitious project: the massive mural at LSBU, London from the Southbank .
All works are offered framed with prices ranging from £4,500 to £24,500. The exhibition is supported by Miles Richmond - Moments of Vision, a short film by Philip Cairney, producer and director of BBC documentaries on David Bomberg, Edward Burra and Walter Sickert. Also available is a fully illustrated catalogue with an essay on Richmond's work and practice.