John Melville (British 1902-1986)
John Melville was born in London but moved to Birmingham in his youth. He attended classes at the Birmingham College of Art but in effect was self-taught, and begun to paint full time towards the 1920s, spending most of his time in the Cotswolds until the early 1930s.
His early paintings show a strong Cubist influence. In the early 1930s, he became a convert to Surrealism, and remained more or less faithful to surrealist ideas for the rest of his life. A member of the Birmingham Group in the 1930's, he joined the Surrealist Group in 1938. Shortly afterwards, just before the onset of World War II, Melville published a series of pieces in the Surrealist publication London Bulletin, but a clear move towards painted portraits and still life was evident during the war.
His first one-man show was held in 1932 at the Crescent Theatre, Birmingham; followed by an exhibition at the Wertheim Gallery, London - one of the most progressive avant-garde galleries around at the time.
He participated at the Surrealist exhibition at the Zwemmer Gallery, London - landmark in history of British Surrealism.
The Post War years brought about a change in his work, he turned more to conventional modernism. In the 1960s he reverted to Surrealism again adding a strong element of expressionism. He was working almost in total isolation towards the end of his life.
Solo Exhibitions
1932, Crescent Theatre, Birmingham; Wertheim Gallery, London
1951, Hanover Gallery, London
1967, R.B.S.A Galleries, Birmingham
1969, Birmingham University, Birmingham
1986, Retrospective, Blond Fine Art, London
1987, Memorial Exhibition, Gothick Dream Fine Art
1996, Retrospective, Westbourne Gallery 62, London
2006, John Melville: A 'Marvellous' English Artist - A Personal Journey to Surrealism and Beyond, The Millinery Works Art Gallery, London
Group Exhibitions
1930, Modern English Watercolour Society, St George's Gallery, London
1933, Tenwties Group Exhibition, Wertheim Gallery, London
1938, Realism and Surrealism, Gloucester
1939, London Gallery, London
1940, Surrealist Exhibition, Zwemmer Gallery, London
1942, Renzios 2nd Surrealist Exhibition
1945, Four Birmingham Artists, Birmingham City Art Gallery
1949, The Birmingham Artists Committee Invitation Exhibition Royal Birmingham Society of Artists Galleries and then Bilston Corporation Art Gallery
1955, Zwemmer Gallery, London; New English Art Club, R.B.A Galleries, London
1971, Hamet Gallery, London
1974, Ikon Gallery, Birmingham
1978, Dada and Surrealism Reviewed, Hayward Gallery, London
1982, Les Enfants d'Alice, La Peinture Surrealiste 1930 - 1960 en Angleterre, Galarie 1900-2000, Paris
1985, A Salute to British Surrealism, 1930 - 1950 which toured The Minories, Colchester; Blond Fine Art, London; The Ferens Hall Art Gallery, Hull
1986, British Surrealism 50 Years On, Mayor Gallery, London; Surrealism in Britain, touring exhibition; Angels of Anarchy and Machines for Making Clouds, Leeds City Art Gallery
1999, From the Unconscious to the Irreverent, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
2000, Surrealism in Birmingham, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery