GILBERT, STEPHEN (British, 1910-2007)

Son of a sculptor, Alfred Gilbert, he first trained at the Slade School, London, 1929-32 and then went to study in Paris, 1938-39.
After showing in London with the Leicester Gallery and at the Royal Academy, Gilbert had his first solo exhibition with Wertheim Gallery, in 1938.
He began to paint Cobra style pictures in the early 40’s, at least 5 years before the formation of the Cobra group in 1948.
After the World War II Gilbert returned to live in Paris, where he exhibited with the Salon des Réalités Nouvelles and Salon des Surindépendants.
In 1953 Gilbert organized a series of 12 lithographs, which included prints by himself, Constant and Hilton. Both Constant and Gilbert began to work in three dimensions constructing “.... metal reliefs, objects, sculpture and even houses”.
He was awarded many sculpture prizes, notably by Foundation Gulbenkian in 1962 and Biennale de Tokyo in 1965.
He was working with metal until 1986 when he returned to abstract painting.

Public collections include:
Arts Council of Great Britain, London
Tate, London