John Forrester (painter)
John Forrester (born June 21, 1922 in Wellington , New Zealand , † December 22, 2002 in Calice Ligure , Italy ) was a New Zealand painter .
life and work
John Forrester was hired as a cabin boy on a merchant ship when he was twelve and went on a world trip with his sailor's bag with nothing but a few socks, sketch paper and pencils . At fifteen he sold his first painting and asked the buyer to return the frame so that he could later use it for another painting. At the beginning of World War II , Forrester volunteered for the New Zealand Army and took part in the fighting in the Pacific Ocean and North Africa .
In 1945 he returned to New Zealand. In 1946 he had his first solo exhibition in Wellington. He studied architecture and graduated, but then devoted himself entirely to painting. In 1953 he went to Europe. He first lived in St Ives (Cornwall) in Great Britain , where he came into contact with the British painting group St Ives Group , which included Bryan Wynter , Peter Lanyon , Terry Frost , Patrick Heron , William Scott and Roger Hilton . In 1958 he moved to Siena in Italy , worked with the painters of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, and then went to Paris in 1960 .
In 1964 his works were shown in the painting department at documenta III in Kassel . His paintings, mostly oil paintings, belong to abstract painting , which often experiences a collage-like structure .
In 1973 he traveled to Calice Ligure in Italy and decided to withdraw from the public art world. He no longer showed any interest in marketing his work, which can nonetheless be found in the permanent collections of more than a dozen museums in England, New Zealand, France, Ireland , the USA and Australia .
Literature and Sources
- documenta III. International exhibition ; Catalog: Volume 1: Painting and Sculpture; Volume 2: Hand Drawings; Volume 3: Industrial Design, Graphics; Kassel / Cologne 1964
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Forrester, John |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | New Zealand painter |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 21, 1922 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Wellington , New Zealand |
| DATE OF DEATH | December 22, 2002 |
| Place of death | Calice Ligure , Italy |