John Hoyland, the English painter and printmaker, was born in Sheffield in 1934 and studied at Sheffield School of Art from 1951 to 1956 and the Royal Academy Schools from 1956 to 1960. He went on to teach at Hornsey College of Art from 1960 to 1962, Chelsea School of Art from 1962 to 1969 (where he was Principal Lecturer from 1965 to 1969), St Martin’s School of Art and the Royal Academy Schools from 1974 to 1977 and the Slade School of Fine Art from 1974 to 1989. Hoyland developed strong links with America from the late 1960s and was appointed Charles A Dana Professor of Fine Art at Colgate University in New York in 1972. He was also artist in residence at the Studio School in New York in 1978 and Melbourne University in 1979.
When he was a student in Sheffield, Hoyland was encouraged to paint local landscapes and abstractions from still life subjects, but by the Situation exhibitions of 1960-61 he was producing carefully constructed paintings that were entirely abstract. These paintings featured bands of colour that explored perceptual effects including the relationship of image to background, but his concern with geometric form soon gave way to sinuous lines enclosing discs of colour and eventually to a freer and more fluid application of paint.
Hoyland’s visit to New York in 1964 on a Peter Stuyvesant bursary brought him into contact with painters such as Helen Frankenthaler, Kenneth Noland and Jules Olitski and with the critic Clement Greenberg, who showed him the work of Hans Hofmann and unexhibited canvases by Morris Louis. Elements of the work of these American painters, and in particular their experiments with colour field painting and Post-painterly Abstraction, feature prominently in subsequent canvases such as 1.11.68 (1968), which used staining techniques and acrylic paint and put a greater emphasis on the physical weight of the paint itself.
John Hoyland soon came to reject the American tendency to reductivism, however, and later paintings such as 22.5.75 (1975) and North Sound (1979) feature varied and tactile surfaces where the paint has been poured, splattered, brushed and applied with a palette-knife. The disposition of blocks of different colours to create sensations of advancing and receding space in these works also shows the influence of Hans Hofmann, who is known for his exploration of the ‘push-pull’ properties of clear forms and contrasting colours. Indeed, so great was Hofmann’s influence, that Hoyland even curated a memorable exhibition of his work at the Tate gallery in 1987.
Hoyland’s first one man show was held at the Marlborough New London Gallery in 1964 and was followed by exhibitions at the Whitechapel and Waddington Galleries and throughout the United States, Europe, Australia and Canada during the 1970s and 80s. A retrospective of his work was held at the Serpentine Gallery in London in 1979 and in the Sackler Galleries of the Royal Academy in 1999. Hoyland has also participate in many group exhibitions over the years, including at the Barbican Gallery in London in 1993 and Galerie Josine Bokhoven in Amsterdam and London’s Serpentine Gallery in 1994.
Hoyland has received many awards throughout his career, including the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation Purchase Award (1963) and a Peter Stuyvesant travel bursary (1964). He was also a Prize Winner at the John Moore�s Liverpool Exhibition (1964) and later won First Prize (1982). He received an Arts Council purchase award (1979), joint first prize (with William Scott) in the Korn Ferry International (1986) and first prize of the Athena Art Award (1987). In 1998 he won the Wollaston Award for the most distinguished work in the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. He was elected to the Royal Academy in 1991 and in 1999 was appointed Professor of Painting at the Royal Academy Schools. In 2001 he received an Honorary Doctorate from Sheffield Hallam University. John Hoyland lives and works in London.
Featuring – Alan ALDRIDGE, Neil CANNING, Anthony FROST, Chris GOLLON, John HOYLAND, Albert IRVIN, Rafal OLBINSKI, Jos Van UIJTREGT, Jerzy KOLACZ, Maurice VERRIER. Charles LEVIER & Rick GOODALE. Rainbird Fine Art gallery.
Featuring – Alan ALDRIDGE illustrator, Neil CANNING artist, Anthony FROST artist, Chris GOLLON artist, John HOYLAND artist, Albert IRVIN artist, Rafal OLBINSKI artist, Jos Van UIJTREGT artist, Jerzy KOLACZ artist, Maurice VERRIER artist, Charles LEVIER artist & Rick GOODALE artist. Rainbird Fine Art gallery
Featuring – Alan ALDRIDGE artist, Neil CANNING art, Anthony FROST art, Chris GOLLON art, John HOYLAND art, Albert IRVIN art, Rafal OLBINSKI art, Jos Van UIJTREGT art, Jerzy KOLACZ art, Maurice VERRIER art. Charles LEVIER art & Rick GOODALE illustrator. Rainbird Fine Art – art gallery.
