Martin Froy (9 February 1926 – 26 January 2017) was a painter of figures, interiors and landscapes; part of a school of British abstract artists which flourished between the 1950s and 70s.

Early life

Froy was born in London on 9 February 1926. He studied at the

Slade School of Fine Art The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...

between 1948–51, under

William Coldstream Sir William Menzies Coldstream, CBE (28 February 1908 – 18 February 1987) was an English realist painter and a long-standing art teacher. Biography Coldstream was born at Belford, Northumberland, in northern England, the second son of coun ...

, co-founder of the

Euston Road School The Euston Road School is a term applied to a group of English painters, active either as staff or students at the School of Drawing and Painting in London between 1937 and 1939. The School opened in October 1937 at premises in Fitzroy Street bef ...

. Froy's painting ''Europa and the Bull'' won the Slade Summer Composition Competition in 1950.

Career

Froy was elected as the First Gregory Fellow in Painting from 1951–4 by a panel including

T.S. Eliot Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 18884 January 1965) was a poet, essayist, publisher, playwright, literary critic and editor.Bush, Ronald. "T. S. Eliot's Life and Career", in John A Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (eds), ''American National B ...

Herbert Read Sir Herbert Edward Read, (; 4 December 1893 – 12 June 1968) was an English art historian, poet, literary critic and philosopher, best known for numerous books on art, which included influential volumes on the role of art in education. Read ...

and

Henry Moore Henry Spencer Moore (30 July 1898 – 31 August 1986) was an English artist. He is best known for his semi- abstract monumental bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art. As well as sculpture, Moore produced ...

. A number of his paintings from this time were displayed in a joint-exhibition with

Lucian Freud Lucian Michael Freud (; 8 December 1922 – 20 July 2011) was a British painter and draughtsman, specialising in figurative art, and is known as one of the foremost 20th-century English portraitists. He was born in Berlin, the son of Jewis ...

at the

Hanover Gallery The Hanover Gallery was an art gallery in London. It was opened in June 1948 by the German art expert Erica Brausen and financier and art collector Arthur Jeffress at 32A St. George's Street, W1, and closed on 31 March 1973. It was named afte ...

in London in 1952. Froy went on to become Head of Fine Art at the

Bath Academy of Art Bath School of Art and Design is an art college in Bath, England, now known separately as Bath School of Art and Bath School of Design. It forms part of the Bath Spa University whose main campus is located a few miles from the City at Newton P ...

, where he taught from 1954–65. He also regularly taught at the Slade School of Art between 1952–55. He became Head of Painting at the

Chelsea School of Art Chelsea College of Arts is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London based in London, United Kingdom, and is a leading British art and design institution with an international reputation. It offers further and higher educat ...

(1966–72). Froy was Trustee to the

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director o ...

(1972–79) and the

Tate Gallery Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...

(1975–9). He also participated in overseas art visits and residencies funded by the Leverhulme Research Award and the

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lan ...

in Italy and Russia. He became Professor of Fine Art at the

University of Reading The University of Reading is a public university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as University College, Reading, a University of Oxford extension college. The institution received the power to grant its own degrees in 192 ...

(1972–91), and he remained in Reading with his wife Catherine after his retirement.

Exhibitions

Exhibitions include Hanover Gallery, London (1952, 1969), Leicester Galleries, London (1961), RWA, Bristol (1964), Arnolfini Gallery, Bristol (1970), Serpentine Gallery (1983) and his work has been included in mixed exhibitions in the UK, New York, Chicago and Italy. Examples of Froy's work can be found in a number of public and private collections, including the Tate Gallery,̺ the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Arts Council of Great Britain. He has also created a number of murals, including those at

Morley College Morley College is a specialist adult education and further education college in London, England. The college has three main campuses, one in Waterloo on the South Bank, and two in West London namely in North Kensington and in Chelsea, the lat ...

, London and

Belgrade Theatre The Belgrade Theatre is a live performance venue in Coventry, England. It was the first civic theatre to be built in Britain after the Second World War and is now a Grade II listed building. Background Coventry was the fastest growing city in ...

, Coventry. His most recent exhibition ''Martin Froy and the Figurative Tradition'' took place at the University of Leeds in 2014.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Froy, Martin 1926 births 2017 deaths Academics of the University of Reading 20th-century English painters Academics of Chelsea College of Arts