Joash Woodrow (1927-2006)
"Portrait of a Young Woman"
Pencil, 76cm by 50cm

Provenance: 108 Fine Art, Harrogate

Artist's Resale Rights/Droit de Suite may apply to this lot, please refer to our Terms of Business

See illustration

Born in Leeds in 1927 of Polish background, Woodrow initially trained at Leeds College of Art after which he served in the army as a cartographer in Egypt 1945 - 1948. Between 1950 - 1953 he studied drawing and painting at the Royal College of Art, his fellow students including Frank Auerbach, Peter Blake and the novelist Len Deighton.
Shortly after graduating from The Royal College of Art Joash returned to his home in Chapel Allerton, Leeds where he continued to paint small scale landscapes and portraits. Already well aware of the broad strands of 20th century European Modernism it was the experience of the huge Picasso show at the Tate in 1960 which provided the major catalyst for the extraordinary explosion in scale and ambition that overtook his work over the next fifteen years.

Lots 97-99 and 204 clearly demonstrate the the power of Picasso's influence on the artist. This fused with his upbringing in a community created through a mix of English, Jewish and Eastern European culture and the realisation that his expressive roots lay outside the British Isles are what enabled him to find his voice.

Since the re-discovery of his work, and since a series of retrospective touring exhibitions, his work is now held in numerous  public collections including Leeds City Art Gallery, Leeds University, Manchester Art Gallery, The Ben Uri, Liverpool University, Hull University, Liverpool Metropolitan University, Pallant House, Chichester. 

A highly successful exhibition was held at the Fine Art Society, London, in 2009