Alesso ‘B’
Michael TyzackAbout 1965
Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
Liverpool, United Kingdom
This painting’s title refers to the Italian Renaissance artist Alesso Baldovinetti (about 1426-1499). Sheffield-born Tyzack recognised visual parallels between his completed work and the folds and hair details in Baldovinetti’s ‘Portrait of a Lady in Yellow’ (National Gallery, London.) Tyzack’s painting exploits the relationships between colours and the multi-directional movements of the wavy forms – he aimed to flow them across the whole canvas surface. The famous American critic Clement Greenberg chaired the jury of the 1965 John Moores exhibition, in which this work won first prize. The exhibition reflected his advocacy of ‘colour-field’ painting in which abstract artists used large, flat expanses of colour.
- Title: Alesso ‘B’
- Creator: Michael Tyzack
- Creator Lifespan: 1933/2007
- Creator Nationality: British
- Creator Gender: Male
- Creator Death Place: Charleston, Iowa, USA
- Creator Birth Place: Sheffield, England
- Date Created: About 1965
- tag / style: Alesso Baldovinetti; Michael Tyzack; John Moores exhibition; abstract; geometric; colour field
- Physical Dimensions: w1828 x h2130 cm (Without frame)
- Artist biographical information: Michael Tyzack was born in Sheffield, Yorkshire. He studied at Sheffield College of Art, 1950-2, the Slade School of Fine Art, 1952-6, and was awarded a French Government Scholarship in 1956. He began teaching at the Cardiff College of Art in 1964 and in the 1970s was Visiting Artist at the University of Iowa, USA and Professor of Fine Arts at the College of Charleston in Iowa. He remained there until his death in 2007. Tyzack was an abstract artist, whose paintings put colour and movement to the fore. There are optical and geometric elements in his work, although he would not have characterized his paintings as Op art or geometric painting.
- Additional artwork information: To read about this painting, and the Walker Art Gallery’s 20th-century collection, please follow this link: http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/walker/collections/20c/tyzack.aspx To read about the history of the John Moores exhibition, which Tyzack won with this painting in 1965, please follow this link: http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/walker/johnmoores/history.aspx
- Type: Acrylic resin on canvas
- Rights: Presented by Sir John Moores in 1966
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