WORK OF THE WEEK : Robyn Denny, ‘Ted Bentley’, 1961

Robyn Denny
Ted Bentley, 1961
Oil on canvas
214 x 183 cm
84 ¼ x 72 ⅛ in.

Ted Bentley was one of the key images in Robyn Denny’s 1973 retrospective at the Tate – an exhibition that marked a high point in his career; at this time, he was the youngest living artist ever to receive this accolade. It wasn't until the late 2000s that his important early paintings were once again shown in commercial galleries and the Tate celebrated him in a display from their significant holdings, re-establishing Denny as a key figure in British abstraction of the 60s and 70s. The title, Ted Bentley, is an example of those taken by Denny from news articles and television shows.

It was whilst assisting with the organisation of the 'Situation' exhibition at the RBA Galleries in 1960, a landmark exhibition for large British abstract painting, that Denny embraced hard-edge, colour-field painting. Denny's large, abstract paintings react against the tradition of British landscape painting, and his rural upbringing, in works that are urban, linear and future-oriented. This style of painting began in the 1950s when he was part of the 'Tachisme' movement, a European variation on American Abstract Expressionism, which developed into hard-edge painting in 1960. Works from 1961, including Ted Bentley, feature vertical bands within a frame, which are suggestive of architectural gateways and the human body. Denny liked these works to be hung low to the ground so viewers feel they might step into the picture.

Pictured left:

Robyn Denny, Ted Bentley, 1961
Foreground: Hubert Dalwood, Landscape II, 1976, Bronze
41 x 35 x 50 cm / 1ft 4 ¾ x 1ft 1 ¾ x 1ft 7 ¾ in.

Robyn Denny (1930-2014) studied at St Martin's School of Art (1951-54) and the Royal College (1954-57). He had many solo and group exhibitions internationally and has work in public collections including the Tate, London; MoMA, New York, USA; Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon, Portugal and Art Institute, Chicago, USA.