John Milnes-Smith (1912-1998)
Composition
signed 'Milnes-Smith' l.r., also signed and dated 'J. Milnes-Smith/97' verso, oil on board
41 x 77cm

Born in Middlesex in 1912, John Milnes-Smith was a British modernist and participant in the landmark exhibition ‘British Abstract Art’ held at Gimpel Fils’ London gallery in 1951. In his early twenties Milnes-Smith trained to be an architect at the Architectural Association, before qualifying in 1939. After serving in Myanmar during the Second World War, he worked in private practice, specialising in the preservation and conservation of historic buildings.

Milnes-Smith began painting in his thirties in a traditional, representational style however quickly moved towards abstraction. In 1957 eight of his works were exhibited alongside other British modernists in Redfern Gallery’s influential show ‘Metavisual Tachiste Abstract’ – a show held in the year following the first major exhibition of American Abstract Expressionists in Britain held at the Tate Gallery. It was around this time that he also began to experiment with combining pieces of paper – paint charts, gallery invitations, and discarded works – with his painted compositions.

Milnes-Smith’s work is of academic interest, as an early British modernist, who was being exhibited alongside the likes of Peter Lanyon, Patrick Heron, and Ben Nicholson yet has remained largely out of the public’s eye.

Condition Report

Framed size 44.5 x 78cm
Grey marks in lower part of picture, unclear if these were part of painitng process or later marks. Frame damaged.