Edgar Both is a European Abstract Expressionist, born in Holland, who studied and exhibited in Switzerland and now lives in England. His earliest paintings in the 1960’s show the influence of the field abstractions by artists such as Hans Hoffman and the New York School of the 1950s. His more expressionistic style in the mid-1960s anticipated Gerhard Richter with its smeared and overlapping colours. By the end of the decade, there was a move towards psychedelia.
In more recent years, he has returned to a more expressive style with new vitality, exploring the boundaries between form, colour and space. He has exhibited in Holland, Switzerland and England, including a ‘Tribute to Dada’ touring exhibition in 1974. His last retrospective was in 2012 with Thomas Williams Fine Art in Bond Street, London.
Edgar’s latest work shows him squarley addressing the challenges thrown down by the post-war Abstract Expressionist movement but incorporating new visual elements using his own recycling images as a base.
I concur with Jackson Pollock’s mentor, Thomas Hart Benton, ‘the creative priocess is a sort of flowering, unfolding process where actual ends, not intentions but ends arrived at, cannot be forseen.’ “
Abstraction Retrospective 2012
Abstraction Retrospective 2012
Moved to Zurich in 1943
Educated in England, Stowe School, and Zurich University (History of Art).
Studied life drawing in a Zürich academy
Worked in Swiss National Musem and Galerie Maeght, Zürich.
Produced first abstract works in 1957
Met Jakob Bill, son of Max Bill, while student in Zurich where they had their first joint exhibition in 1961
Had solo exhibitions in Holland 1962 – 2012.
Edgar’s early work, influenced by the Abstract Expressionist movement, can be found in numerous European private collections.
Recent works incorporate abstract painting with recycling.
Currently living in London.