We are pleased to present a selection of rare works by Robert Medley direct from the estate of the artist. The exhibition focuses on his use of the figure to explore his sexuality, address the ageing process, record friends and create mythologically inspired multi-figure compositions.
In 1971 Bryan Robertson, the celebrated director of the Whitechapel Art Gallery, wrote that Robert Medley stood alongside Henry Moore, Ben Nicholson, Graham Sutherland, Francis Bacon and Edward Burra as 'one of the most gifted and independent artists of an older generation'.
However, despite such powerful supporters, in his lifetime Medley was diffident about fame and since his death in 1994 his work has tended to fall from view. A notable exception was our 2005 exhibition to mark the centenary of Medley’s birth which was accompanied by a catalogue with essays and reminiscences by John Berger, Maggi Hambling, David Hockney, R.B. Kitaj, Norman Rosenthal and Andrew Lambirth.
The present online exhibition provides an introduction to this great figure and includes one of his most important portraits – a beautiful painting of his friend Derek Jarman - which has never previously been offered for sale, alongside a selection of life studies and figurative works.
