Aubrey Williams - Demerara
Exceptional 20th century abstract oil and mixed media on stretched canvas by Guyanese artist Aubrey Williams.
Aubrey Williams, (1926-1990), was a Guyanese artist who spent most of his professional career in London. Williams showed an interest in art at the age of 5. As a young adult he worked as a agronomist, working to improve agricultural production efficiency, sustainability, and quality of the sugar plantations in Guyana. This work provided him with extensive contact with the Warao people in the Guyanese rainforest. Williams later stated that through his contact with the Warao peoples he “…started to understand what art really is”.
In the early 1950s, he relocated to London to work as an artist and found immediate success. He had his first exhibition in London in 1954, and soon after became a significant figure in the post-war British avant-garde art scene.
In 1966 Williams became a leading figure and cofounder of the Caribbean Artists Movement, a group of London-based Caribbean artists and intellectuals which served as a dynamic hub of cultural events and activity.
Williams worked in studios in Jamaica and Florida as well as the UK. He died in London on 17 April 1990, aged 63.
Recently Williams work has become the subject of much attention and adoration, including shows at Tate Modern, and has been the subject of recent television documentaries.
This work, titled ‘Demerara’ reflex on the artist’s time working in the sugar farming industry.
It is dated 1968, and is a mixed media on stretched canvas. It measures 29.25 x 39.5 sight size, and 34 x 44 x 2.5 inches overall.
The painting is in good condition, and is straight out of an estate. It hsas not been cleaned. It is housed in a new frame, with a linen liner.
Signed and titled by the artist, verso.
