John Hoyland

Hoyland’s work in his finals show so shocked the Royal Academy Schools that the then president of the RA ordered it off the walls.

Born in Sheffield in 1934, John Hoyland exhibited his first fully abstract paintings in 1960 with the influential Situation group just months after leaving the Royal Academy. Over the next decade his career took off and in 1964 he was selected as one of curator Bryan Robertson’s New Generation artists for his exhibition of young talent at the Whitechapel Gallery. It was a generation that included Patrick Caulfield, David Hockney, Paul Huxley, Allen Jones and Bridget Riley.

In 1967 Hoyland had his first solo museum show at Whitechapel, an event the critic Mel Gooding has described as ‘a defining moment in the history of British abstract painting’ which ‘established him without question as one of the two or three best abstract painters of his generation anywhere in the world.’ Two years he later represented Great Britain with Anthony Caro at the 1969 São Paulo Biennale, Brazil.

Between 1964 and 1973 Hoyland was a frequent visitor to the United States, where he also worked in the late 1960s, bringing him into close contact with the New York art world, including critic Clement Greenberg and artists Barnett Newman, Helen Frankenthaler, Kenneth Noland, Jules Olitski, Robert Motherwell, Larry Poons and Mark Rothko, many of whom became close friends.

His work has been the subject of retrospectives at the Serpentine Gallery (1979-80), the Royal Academy of Arts, London (1999) and Tate St Ives (2006).

1934

Born Sheffield, October 12, first child of Kenneth and Kathleen Hoyland. His father is a tailor

1946-51

Attends Sheffield School of Art & Crafts (Junior Art Department) instead of following grammar school education. A fellow pupil is Brian Fielding, who becomes one of Hoyland’s closest friends and later a formidable artist in his own right. Together they would ‘discuss Art with a capital A’ and ramble into the night around post-war Sheffield

1951-56

Studies fine art at Sheffield College of Art, where emphasis is on figurative painting – no awareness of abstract art. Taught academic draughtsmanship but given no sense of possibilities of drawing; teachers uninspired with exception of the excellent Eric Jones. Reads Auden, Eliot, etc. Affected by Turner watercolours in Graves Art Gallery and Paul Nash’s monochromatic ‘Winter Sea’ with its abstract horizontal planes

1953

Visits St Cyr in South of France, near de Staël’s Cassis. Makes many topographical paintings

1956-60

(January ’56) Influenced by exhibition ‘Modern Art in the United States’ at Tate Gallery, London, his first encounter with American abstract painting. Especially affected by the Rothko and Pollock. Similarly excited by Staél’s memorial exhibition at the Whitechapel Gallery in early summer 1956. Studies at Royal Academy Schools, London; begins to draw seriously from the model and to paint figures. Interest in early Matisse, ‘brown and white’ pictures. Friendship with Paul Huxley, Basil Beattie, Keith Arnatt and Oliver Bradbury (who later becomes a poet) and Patrick Caulfield, who becomes a close friend

1957

Paints land- and townscapes of Sheffield area, influenced by de Staël. Also painting still lifes that suggest growing interest in abstraction. Attends annual Summer School at Scarborough where Victor Pasmore, Harry Thubron and Tom Hudson teach colour, structure and form; here he experiments with colour. Visits south of France and Adriatic Coast, painting landscapes between Marseilles and Toulon; also Italy – the Adriatic coast, Milan, Arezzo, Florence and Assisi. Greatly affected by quality of life and light in Italy and France after greyness of Sheffield

1958

Joins William Turnbull’s evening classes at Central School of Art, London; working mainly from still life but with expanded references, he explores the possibilities of abstracting from actual objects. Marries Airi Karkkainen; birth of son Jeremy

1960

Entire Diploma show of abstract paintings taken down by order of President of Royal Academy, Sir Charles Wheeler, but Diploma awarded on strength of earlier figurative work. Begins teaching part-time on basic design course at Hornsey College of Art under Maurice de Sausmarez; colleagues include Alan Green, Bridget Riley and Brian Fielding. Also at Oxford School of Art. First of several visits to wife’s native Finland

1960-61

Exhibits large-scale paintings in the two ‘Situation’ exhibitions at RBA Gallery, London, and Marlborough New London Gallery

1961-62

Teaching at Luton College of Art and Hornsey College of Art

1961-65

Studio at Primrose Hill, North London

1962

Begins teaching at Croydon School of Art and Chelsea School of Art, London. Meets William Tucker, and sees Paul Huxley regularly (who introduces him to curator Bryan Robertson)

1963

Deeply impressed by Anthony Caro exhibition at Whitechapel Gallery. Meets Helen Frankenthaler

1964

Selected by Bryan Robertson for ‘New Generation’ exhibition at Whitechapel Gallery. Travels to New York for first time on a Peter Stuyvesant Foundation Bursary; visits various leading artists’ studios (Motherwell, Newman and Rothko) and sees unexhibited canvases by Morris Louis. Meets Noland, Feeley and Olitski; also Clement Greenberg, who introduces him to Hans Hofmann via two small canvases at New York’s Kootz Gallery. Builds studio in Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey

1965

Included by Robertson in ‘Private View’ (Thames & Hudson), a book surveying British contemporary art scene; also selected for ‘The English Eye’, Robertson’s personal anthology of modern British art for Marlborough-Gerson Gallery in New York. Principal Lecturer at Chelsea School of Art until 1969; occasional teaching visits to Royal Academy Schools. Contact with Philip King, Tim Scott, William Tucker and other ‘New Generation’ sculptors

1967-69

(1967) One-man show, ‘Paintings 1960-67’, at Whitechapel Gallery. Makes first works in New York, in Peter Stroud’s studio, and has first exhibition there at Robert Elkon Gallery. (Summer 1968) Works in studio of John Griefen. Spends time with Larry Poons and Ronnie Langfeldt

1968

Separates from wife, and subsequently divorces. Begins working for part of each week at a new studio (a disused chapel) in Market Lavington, Wiltshire. Included in ‘The New Generation: 1968’ at Whitechapel Gallery, London

1969

Joins Waddington Galleries, London, and has first of several annual exhibitions at Andre Emmerich Gallery, New York. Travels to Brazil and the Caribbean with Anthony Caro; represents Great Britain, with Caro, at the São Paolo Biennale. In Trinidad meets American jazz singer, Eloise Laws, and shares apartment with her during regular working trips to New York (until 1973). Friendship with Hubert Laws, jazz flautist and composer, and Ronnie Laws, saxophonist and composer. Meets Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz and many leading jazz musicians of Motown (to whom Eloise was signed for a time); spends time in Detroit

1971

Frequent trips to New York. Continues to see Noland, Frankenthaler, Motherwell and Greenberg. Working in New York

1972

Made Charles A. Dana Professor of Fine Art at Colgate University, Hamilton, New York

1973

Travels to Provincetown with Robert Motherwell. Returns to live and work more or less permanently in London and Wiltshire

1974

Makes three lithographs with Ian Lawson and another series in Verona

1974-77

Visiting lecturer at St Martin’s School of Art and the Royal Academy Schools

1974-89

Visiting lecturer at the Slade School of Art

1977

Selector and exhibitor, Royal Academy Silver Jubilee Exhibition, London

1978

Artist in Residence, Studio School, New York (summer); paints many small works on paper

1979-80

Retrospective exhibition at Serpentine Gallery, London. Artist in Residence, Melbourne University. Visits Bombay, Hong Kong and Thailand en route with Patrick Caulfield. Rome Scholarship Committee (printmaking) until 1989

1980

Co-curator with art historian Tim Hilton for the Arts Council’s Hayward Annual Exhibition, London. Moves to new studio in Charterhouse Square, London

1982

Working in Los Angeles. Wins John Moores Painting Prize with ‘Broken Bride’ at Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool

1983

Elected ARA (Associate of the Royal Academy). Makes prints and monotypes with Atelier Lacourière et Frélaut, France; screenprints monotypes with Advanced Graphics, London, and etched monotypes with Jack Shirreff at 107 Workshop, Wiltshire

1984-85

Makes ceramics in Todi, Umbria, Italy, invited by Piero Dorazio

1986

Designs sets and costumes for ‘Zanza’ at Sadler’s Wells and The Alhambra Theatre with Rambert Dance Company; choreography by Richard Alston, music by Nigel Osborne, lighting by Peter Mumford

1987

Travels to Trinidad, Antigua and Jamaica. Wins Athena Art Award

1988

Travels in United States. Selects and curates Hans Hofmann exhibition at Tate Gallery. Sailing trip in eastern Mediterranean with Patrick Caulfield, Janet Nathan and Beverley Heath

1989

Visits Ken Draper and Jean Macalpine in Minorca with Beverley Heath; and Jamaica and Italy with Heath. Makes etchings in Milan with Giorgio Upiglio at Grafica Uno

1991

Elected Royal Academician

1992

Invited guest at Thupelo workshop, Johannesburg, South Africa; makes drawings of plants and roots. Visits Motherwell in Greenwich and New York

1993

Travels to the Caribbean, and to Sydney, Australia, visiting Bali, Indonesia, on return journey

1994

First visit to Murano, Venice, where he makes glass sculptures

1995

Exhibits Bali paintings at Theo Waddington Gallery

1997

Travels to Ocho Rios, Jamaica; Grand Cayman Island; Cozumel, Mexico; and Key West, Florida. Third visit to Bali

1998

Visits San Juan, Puerto Rico; Barbados, Antigua, St Martin, Martinique and Virgin Islands

Makes a second visit to Murano, Venice, to make glass sculptures. Visits Florence and Cuba

1999

Appointed Professor of Painting at Royal Academy Schools. Retrospective at Royal Academy, London

2001

Mural Design for Metro in Rome, Italy. Retrospective exhibition at Graves Art Gallery in his hometown of Sheffield. Shows regularly at Beaux Arts, London, Nevill Keating Pictures, London, and Lemon Tree Gallery, Truro, Cornwall

2003

Work included in ‘Formal Situations: Abstractions in Britain, 1960-70’ at Tate Liverpool (April to November). ‘Sky Chariots’, 2003, nominated for Jerwood Painting Prize

2004

‘Art in the 1960s, This was Tomorrow’ at Tate Britain (then touring to Birmingham, Australia and New Zealand)

2006

‘The Trajectory of a Fallen Angel’, one-man exhibition at Tate St Ives. Mel Gooding’s monograph ‘John Hoyland’ is published (Thames & Hudson)

2008

Marries Beverley Heath

2009

Publication of Andrew Lambirth’s ‘John Hoyland: Scatter the Devils’ (Unicorn Press)

2010

50 paintings and works on paper enter the collection of the Yale Center for British Art as part of the Lurie gift. Exhibition celebrating the gift (including work by Patrick Caulfield, Howard Hodgkin, R.B. Kitaj, Ian Stephenson and John Walker) opens at Yale (September 16)

2011

(July 31) Dies of heart failure. Eulogies at his funeral include those of his fellow Academicians and friends Ian Ritchie, Anthony Caro and Mick Moon. His mother, ‘without whom he would quite possibly not even have been an artist’ (Jeremy Hoyland) dies within weeks of her son, aged 101