William Gear: the painter that Britain forgot

William Gear's centenary retrospective - which opened  at Towner Art Gallery,  Eastbourne (where he served as curator from 1958-64), and toured to City Art Centre, Edinburgh during 2015-16 - has received widespread, and positive, press coverage.  

 

"Gear is little known now but in his time he was a controversial artist whose work frequently found its way into our national collections  ... Gear is best known for his large, colourful canvases, oils that often seem to have been painted beneath stained glass on a sunny day, their jewel-like shards outlined in oppressive black ."

Rachel Cooke, The Observer

 

"This show does great justice to William Gear ... his importance has never been fully recognised, or celebrated, until now."

Giles Sutherland,  The Times

 

"Gear was international both in his experience and his inspiration ... a fine draughtsman and an inventive print-maker, and the works on paper are a particular delight in this show."

Duncan Macmillan,  The Scotsman

 

For a review by Rachel Campbell-Johnston, The Times