COLIN
MOSS
30th April 1914 - 16th December 2005
Colin Moss stands favourably alongside the Kitchen
Sink artists of the 1950s such as John Bratby,
Derek Greaves and Jack Smith but, as a master
draughtsman of the highest order, he avoided
the prevalent trends of abstractionism to tread
a lonelier, yet determined, path outside the
mainstream. He portrayed the hard-hitting realities
of urban and working class life in Ipswich and
London from the 1930s to the present day yet
the work was cosmopolitan. Its internationalist
flavours of social realism and an expressionistic
handling of paint and colour sang “out
from the walls, like rich base baritones, drenching
everything in a cascade of boisterous colour;
palpitating reds – an almost unbelievably
skilful range of the violet-mauve-purple vein-shattering
blues – and vibrant falsetto greens.”
(Mervyn Levy, Art News & Review, 5.2.1955)
Every drawing and painting was stated with uncompromising
intensity and power; it was gritty and passionate.
He keenly observed the human condition in all
its forms; the poor and unemployed, gossipers
in terraced streets, lovers on park benches,
prostitutes, tramps and drunks. His nudes were
full-blooded and sensuous, his religious figures
anguished and his studies of flowers, fish and
fruit ravishing. How many other East Anglian
artists have tackled the subject of the death
camp victims at Auschwitz or refugees forced
out of their homes by the horrors of war? Although
his work as a camouflage designer for the Ministry
of Home Security is now acclaimed, it was his
experiences as a soldier on active duty in north
Africa and Palestine during WWII that led to
the production of some of his most powerful
pieces.
Retirement in 1979 after 32 years of teaching
at the Ipswich School of Art brought Colin greater
freedom to paint at a time when he was still
at the height of his powers. The 1980s saw him
take special pleasure in painting oil studies
of his garden and a wonderful series of flowers
in vibrant watercolours. He especially loved
his large containers of scarlet geraniums and
of course he was always drawing nudes. An accomplished
draughtsman, practitioner and teacher of life
drawing since his early training at Plymouth
Art School and the Royal College, what he called
“the artist’s greatest challenge”
culminated in an exhibition at the Chappel Galleries
in 1998 entitled, tongue in cheek by Colin,
“Have I got Nudes for You”!
Whether we look at Colin’s most recent
work or that produced some 60 years ago, it
is impossible not to admire his consistent energy
and application that never diminished until
the last few years of his life. He was always
true to himself. Through his acute observations
of ordinary people over six decades he immortalised
the details of contemporary life, from pre-war
Britain to the punk era of the 1980s and the
ever present destitution on the streets during
the 1990s. These will undoubtedly be considered
of enormous value to future social as well as
art historians. The honesty of Colin Moss’s
vision, revealing both the light and dark sides
of everyday human existence, has touched many
lives and will surely continue to do so. It
is a compelling and wonderful legacy.
Chloe Bennett
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COLIN
MOSS |
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Royal College of Art, London
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Senior Lecturer, Ipswich School
of Art
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Studied under Kokoschka in
Salzburg
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Art Critic to East Anglian
Daily Times
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SOLO
EXHIBITIONS |
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Kensington Art Gallery, London
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Retrospective Exhibition,
Christchurch Mansion, Ipswich
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Retrospective Exhibition,
The Minories, Colchester
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Phoenix Gallery, Lavenham
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Bury St Edmunds Art Gallery
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John Russell Gallery, Ipswich
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Paintings Religious & Profane,
Chappel Galleries, Essex (featured BBC TV)
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Sweetwaters Gallery, London
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John Russell Gallery, Ipswich
Works on Paper from 1946, Chappel Galleries,
Essex
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John Russell Gallery, Ipswich
‘Colin Moss’s People’
Christchurch Mansion, Ipswich
The Boundary Gallery, London
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John Russell Gallery, Ipswich
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“Have I Got Nudes for
You”, Chappel Galleries, Essex
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‘Watercolour Retrospective’
Artists’ Gallery, Ipswich
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‘Camouflage’ Christchurch
Mansion, Ipswich
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2007 |
Memorial
Exhibition, Chappel Galleries,
Essex |
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MIXED
EXHIBITIONS |
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‘Britain in Watercolour’
RWS Gallery, London
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‘Artists Under Forty’,
Zwemmer Gallery, London
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AIA Exhibition, Camden Art
Gallery, London
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Paintings of Camouflage, Imperial War Museum,
London
‘Portrait of the Artist’ Tate
Gallery, London
‘Signed Essex’ The Minories,
Colchester
‘Flower in Art’ Christchurch
Mansion, Ipswich
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Art ’91 Business Centre,
Islington, London
Influential East Anglian Artists, Chappel
Galleries, Essex
Lang Competition, Mall Galleries, London
‘Spectrum’ Sweetwaters Gallery,
London
20C British Art, Royal College of Art, London
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Ipswich Open, Christchurch
Mansion, Ipswich
Art ’95 Business Centre, Islington,
London
Aldeburgh 100
20C British Drawings and Prints, Simon Carter
Gallery, Woodbridge, Suffolk
Government Art Collection, London
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‘Flowers in May’,
King of Hearts Gallery, Norwich
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25th Anniversary, Bury St
Edmunds Art Gallery
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‘Colin Moss & Colleagues’,
Ethna Dillon Gallery, Norwich
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WORKS
IN PUBLIC COLLECTIONS |
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British
Museum, London;
Tate Gallery Archive, London;
Imperial War Museum, London;
Government Art Collection, London;
Ipswich Borough Council Museums & Galleries;
Leamington Spa Art Gallery & Museum;
Nottingham Art Gallery;
Cheltenham & Gloucester Building Society. |
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PUBLICATION |
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Colin
Moss ‘Life Observed by Chloe Bennett’.
Fully illustrated, published by Malthouse Press,
Suffolk 1996.
For sale at Chappel Galleries. |