James Hull (British 1921-1990)
Having spent the war years 1939-46 in army service, Hull's earliest paintings dealt with the anguish and suffering of the conflict. Towards the end of the 1940s, the haunting and surreal figures gradually made way for abstract compositions which somehow retained the linearity and angular geometry of his earlier works. His first one-man-show was sponsored by the eminent critic Herbert Read and was held at the Gallery of the Arts at Twenty Brook Street. Hull was one of the founding member artists of Gimpel Fils Gallery, which was a nucleus for Avant Garde art during the Post War years. Various one-man shows were organized for him there and he was included in numerous group shows, amongst them the 1951 British Abstract Art exhibition, which featured Hilton, Hepworth, Gear, Frost, Lanyon, Pasmore and Paolozzi. Then followed a prolific period for the artist who began exhibitions in Paris, Rome and New York.
In the 50's Hull developed an interest for industrial and domestic design. He was sought after as a consultant and designer of exhibition centres, offices, stores and theatrical stages. His commissions included murals and displays for the Festival of Britain in 1951, the This is Tomorrow show at the Whitechapel Gallery in 1956, the Daily Mirror Building from 1960-70 and he received projects in Cairo, Spain, Nigeria and the United States.
In the early 70's, namely between 1971 and 1973 whilst he was living in Ibiza and Tunisia, Hull's interest in the applied arts extended to jewelry design. In the 1980's however he began once more to concentrate on painting. He had been distant from the British art scene for many years but a show was soon organized for him at the Strickland Gallery in London, 1986. Two more exhibitions followed in 1989, the first at the Adrienne Resnick Gallery, London and the second at Whitford and Hughes, London, showing his most recent works. His compositions remained abstract but showed a much freer and fluid approach to both form and colour. His work remained original and fresh , spontaneous and in control of medium and space.
Solo Exhibitions
1949, Brook Street Gallery
Camden Galleries, London
The North London Gallery, London
1984, Whiford and Hughes, London
Group Exhibitions
1951, British Abstract Art, Gimpel Fils, London
1952, Tendances de la Peinture Britanniques Contemporaines, Galerie de France, Paris
1953, International Exhibition of Gouaches and Watercolours, Brooklyn Museum, New York, Passedoit Gallery, New York; Gimpel Fils, London
1954, Gimpel Fils, London
1956, Paintings by Roger Hilton and James Hull, Gimpel Fils, London