Artist: John Virtue
Date: 1994-95
Medium: Black ink, shellac and acrylic on canvas
Dimensions: 183 x 184 cm
Credit: Towner Collection, purchased in Partnership with the Contemporary Art Society as part of the Collection Scheme, and with the assistance of the MGC/V&A. Image Towner Eastbourne, © The Artist
John Virtue is a landscape painter producing works at the edge of abstraction and figuration in monochrome inks and acrylics. He is influenced by artists such as John Constable, JMW Turner, Jackson Pollock as well as Japanese calligraphy. Informed by his travels and walks, his locations of Lancashire, Devon and Italy come under intense scrutiny and while living on the North Norfolk coast, he grappled with the magnitude of the sea, sky and weather. Virtue’s works can be seen in many collections including the Tate, British Museum and The Courtauld Institute as well as in the Towner Collection.