Anthony Whishaw RA

Born: 22 May 1930, London, UK
Elected ARA: 22 May 1980
Elected RA: 7 December 1989
Category of Membership: Painter

Anthony Whishaw RA, 'Lyminge Forest', 1992. Acrylic and collage on canvas, 242cm x 301cm. Anthony Whishaw studied at Chelsea School of Art from 1948 to 1952 (awarded NDD) and the Royal College of Art, London from 1952 to 1955, when he was awarded the ARCA (first class hons), the RCA Travelling Scholarship, an Abbey Minor Scholarship and a Spanish Government Scholarship.

His work deals with explorations of memory and experience. On the edge of representation, varying in intent, scale and depiction, it seeks to reconcile illusion and allusion, the abstract and the figurative, past and present pictorial languages to create unforeseen visual experiences.

His first solo show was held at the Libreria Abril, Madrid in 1956. Subsequently, he had regular exhibitions at Roland, Browse and Delbanco, London, throughout the 1960s and went on to have numerous solo shows throughout the UK at venues including the ICA, London (1971), the Oxford Gallery, Oxford (1978) and Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge (1982). He also exhibited in many key group exhibitions from 1952, and has participated regularly in the Whitechapel Open, the Hayward Annual, and the John Moores Painting Prize.

He has many awards to his name, including the RCA Drawing Prize (1954),Perth International Drawing Biennale Prize (1973), South East Arts Association Painting Prize (1975), Arts Council of Great Britain Award (1978), Greater London Council Painting Prize (1981), Abbey Premier Scholarship (1982), John Moores Minor Painting Prize (1982), Lorne Scholarship (1982-3), Joint winner Hunting Group National Art Competition (1986), and Korn Ferry Carre Oban International Picture of the Year in 1996.

Anthony Whishaw RA, 'Collapsing Tree', 2007- 2010. Acrylic on canvas, 213cm x 152cm. He was elected a Member of the London Group in 1979, an Associate Royal Academician in 1980, a Royal Academician in 1989 and a Member of the Royal West of England Academy in 1992. Between 1958 and 1992, he taught on an occasional basis at Chelsea School of Art, and St Martins.

He lives and works in London.

Selected solo exhibitions
2010 Acme Studio (sponsored by Acme)
2010 The Fine Art Society
2010 Kings Place Gallery, London
2009 Pasmore Gallery, Harrow School
2007 Osborne Samuel Gallery, London
2002 Art First, London
2000-01 St Anne’s College, Oxford University
2000 Royal Academy of Arts (Friends’ Room), London
Stephen Lacey Gallery, London
1999 Art First, London
1997 Art First, London
1995 Newport and Bolton Museums
Art Space, London
1994 Art Space, London
The Barbican Centre, touring to Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter; Maclaurin Art Gallery, Ayr; Huddersfield Art Gallery; RHA Gallagher Gallery, Dublin; Hatton Art Gallery, Newcastle; Mappin Art Gallery, Sheffield; Newport Museum and Art Gallery; Bolton Metropolitan Museum and Art Gallery
1993 Royal West of England Academy, Bristol
1992 Art Space Gallery, London
1991 Blason Gallery, London
1989 Galerie in Faust, Hamburg
Galerie in Faust, Shanghai, China
1987-88 Royal Academy Diploma Galleries (toured to Hatton Gallery, Newcastle; Mead Gallery, Arts Centre of Warwick; John Hansard Gallery, Southampton; Space, Exeter)
1986 Large Landscapes, Royal Academy of Arts
1984 Nicola Jacobs, London
1983 Nicola Jacobs, London
1978 Acme Gallery, London

Public collections
Arts Council of Great Britain
Bolton Art Gallery
Chantrey Bequest
Christchurch, Kensington
City Art Galleries, Sheffield
Coventry Art Gallery
Ferens Art Gallery, Hull
Government Art Collection
Huddersfield Musuem & Art Gallery
Leicester City Art Gallery
Museo de Arte Moderno, Murcia
Museo de Bahia, Brazil
Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
National Gallery of Wales
Power Art Gallery, Sydney
Royal Academy of Arts, London
Royal West of England Academy, Bristol
Seattle Museum of Art, USA
Tate Gallery, London
Western Australia Gallery

www.anthonywhishaw.com

Contact details for further information
Email membershipoffice@royalacademy.org.uk

• Royal Academy of Arts