Waterhouse & Dodd Announce First New York Solo Show for Renowned 80 Year old British Artist, Trevor Bell

NEW YORK, April 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- After spending 25 years building their reputation as British Art Dealers in America, in March of this year Waterhouse & Dodd opened their first gallery in New York. For their first solo exhibition they will present the celebrated British abstract artist, Trevor Bell. The parallels are striking - as a long term Florida resident Bell developed the reputation of an important British abstract artist in America, yet surprisingly, at the grand age of 80, this is his first solo show in New York. The exhibition opens on the 19th April and runs until 14th May, 2011.

    (Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20110413/449835-a )

    (Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20110413/449835-b )

Once described as the best young British abstract painter by the eminent artist and critic Patrick Heron, it is fitting that the UK's premier museum for British art, Tate Britain, has recently acquired several major works representative of Bell's 60 year career in the UK and US. Bell's paintings can already be found in the British Museum and the UK's Arts Council, and in the US at The Getty Centre for the History of Art, Los Angeles, the Florida State University Museum and the Phoenix Art Museum in Arizona, and numerous important private collections.

"We are thrilled to give Trevor his first New York solo show", says Ray Waterhouse, the gallery's co-founder. "We have sold paintings he did as early as the 1950s, but his recent works are just as vibrant and just as accomplished. He paints with the joy of a man half his age. He is a truly great colorist and we expect museums directors and collectors to flock to this show".

Bell's distinguished career at the cutting edge of British abstract art in the 1950s and 1960s culminated in a prestigious one man show at the Whitechapel Gallery in London in 1973. Shortly afterwards Bell became Professor for Master (Graduate) Painting at the Florida State University, where he was to remain for over 20 years. This period created a large following for his work in the US, and Waterhouse says "We are looking forward to bring Bell's work to a new audience, and also to reuniting many of his long-time collectors and ex-students with his current work. I am sure they will be astonished at the freshness of the paintings in the show."

Trevor Bell returned to Cornwall, England in 1996 and was honoured with a solo exhibition in 2004 at one of Britain's most important museums, Tate St Ives.

All of the paintings in the current show were painted in the last 6 years, and none are conventionally shaped. The shapes of Bell's circular and tapered canvases are integral to the effect as he paints the sides in complementary colors. The luminous and brilliant color of these pieces is reminiscent of Bell's great Florida period. So many British artists of the period were over-shadowed by their peers in America; Bell was and is one of the few to have risen to the challenge set by the great American masters from Rothko and Motherwell, through to Noland, Kelly and Morris.

Bell will be attending the show and says "I am really thrilled at the prospect of finally exhibiting in New York - the city entrances me. And I am proud of these paintings. I can still do it! I'm looking forward to showing them to some old friends."

Despite his reputation and standing, his works remain surprisingly affordable, with prices starting at $14,000 for a 36 x 36 inch canvas.

For Waterhouse & Dodd, the opening of a gallery space in New York represented a natural development after 25 years of dealing in the US at fairs and exhibitions. For Bell, the chance to open his first solo show in New York is the fulfilment of a 60-year-old ambition.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION AND IMAGES, PLEASE CONTACT:

Kristen Johnson, Director Waterhouse and Dodd New York, 104 Greene Street, New York, NY 10012, Tel: +1-212-226-3000; [email protected]

    http://www.waterhousedodd.com
    The show can be viewed online:
    http://www.waterhousedodd.com/exhibitions/trevor-bell
    Exhibition times: Tuesday 19th April - Saturday 14th May 2011

INTERVIEW: The artist is available for interview. He may be contacted via the gallery for telephone or e-mail interview, or can be interviewed in person at the gallery from 10th May - 12th May.

SOURCE Waterhouse & Dodd