Derrick Greaves is one of the most eminent British painters of the last half century. Greaves initially gained acclaim in the 1950s, when he represented Britain at the Venice Biennale along with the other 'Kitchen-Sink' painters with whom he was associated: John Bratby, Edward Middleditch and Jack Smith.
His work has developed from the social realism of the 1950s to a more heraldic style that paralleled 1960s Pop Art, from an imagery based on nature and observable fact to more studio-bound imaginative constructs.
Derrick Greaves is represented by James Hyman Gallery.
1927
Born in Sheffield
1943-48
Apprenticed as a sign-writer
1948-52
Studied at the Royal College of Art
1952-54
Abbey Major Scholarships to study in Italy
1954-64
Taught part-time at St Martin's School of Art, London
1956
Represented Britain at the Venice Biennale (with John Bratby, Edward Middleditch and Jack Smith)
1957
Visited USSR. Awarded Gold Medal for painting at Moscow Youth Festival.
Awarded prize at John Moore's Exhibition, Liverpool
1960s
Taught part-time at Maidstone College of Art and Royal Academy Schools
1962
Awarded purchase prize in Belfast Open Painting Exhibition
1979
Visited Israel with nine other British artists to produce work for 'Israel Observed' project
1983-91
Head of Printmaking at Norwich School of Art
Lives and works in Norfolk.
Selected Solo Exhibitions:
2020
Derrick Greaves. Blossom, Mandell's Gallery, Norwich and James Hyman Gallery, London
2018
Irises, etc. Recent paintings and watercolours by Derrick Greaves, Mandell's Gallery, Norwich and James Hyman Gallery, London
2016
Derrick Greaves. Iris Drawings, James Hyman Gallery, London
2015
Derrick Greaves. The Psychiatrist's Cat and Other Recent Paintings, James Hyman Gallery, London
2013
Derrick Greaves. All Blues, James Hyman Gallery, London
2012
Derrick Greaves. Milestones, James Hyman Gallery, London
2011
Flatworld. Recent Prints and Drawings by Derrick Greaves, James Hyman Gallery, London
Derrick Greaves. Paintings and Prints, School House Gallery, Norfolk
Derrick Greaves. Painting Beyond the Millennium, Sidney Cooper Gallery, Canterbury
2010
Derrick Greaves. Nightingale and Other Recent Pictures, James Hyman Gallery, London
2008
Derrick Greaves: White Ground and Other Recent Paintings, James Hyman Gallery, London
2007
Derrick Greaves: From Kitchen-Sink to Shangri-La, James Hyman Gallery, London
2006
Pop Classical: Derrick Greaves Paintings from the 1970s, James Hyman Gallery, London
2005
Derrick Greaves: The Pleasures of Drawing, James Hyman Gallery, London
2003
Derrick Greaves: Paintings and Drawings 1952-2002, James Hyman Gallery, London
Derrick Greaves: New Prints, School House Gallery, Norfolk
2002
Derrick Greaves: Six Decades of Painting, Wingfield Arts Centre, Wingfield, Suffolk
2000
Derrick Greaves: Collage Drawings, Chappel Gallery, Essex
1999
Derrick Greaves: Drawing for Paintings, School House Gallery, Norfolk
1997
Derrick Greaves, King of Hearts Gallery, Norwich
Derrick Greaves, Hart Gallery, London
1996
Derrick Greaves, Galerie Daniel Wahrenberger, Zurich, Switzerland
1992
Derrick Greaves, King of Hearts Gallery, Norwich
1980
Derrick Greaves: Forty from Ten, Loughborough and tour
Derrick Greaves: Retrospective Exhibition of Prints 1969-1980, Leicester Museum and Art Gallery
Derrick Greaves, Fischer Fine Art, London
Derrick Greaves: Retrospective Exhibition of Paintings 1953-1980, Graves Art Gallery, Sheffield
1978
Derrick Greaves, Monika Kinley, London
Derrick Greaves, City Gallery, Milton Keynes
Derrick Greaves, Cranfield Institute of Technology
1977
Derrick Greaves, Monika Kinley, London
Derrick Greaves, City Gallery, Milton Keynes
1976
Derrick Greaves, Monika Kinley, London
Derrick Greaves, City Gallery, Milton Keynes
1975
Derrick Greaves, Monika Kinley, London
Derrick Greaves, City Gallery, Milton Keynes
1973
Derrick Greaves, Bear Lane Gallery, Oxford
Derrick Greaves, Whitechapel Gallery, London
Derrick Greaves, Monika Kinley, London
1972
Derrick Greaves, Arts Council Gallery, Belfast
Derrick Greaves, David Hendricks Gallery, Dublin
Derrick Greaves, Institute of Contemporary Art, London
1970
Derrick Greaves, Bear Lane Gallery, Oxford
Derrick Greaves, Galleria La Citta, Verona, Italy
Derrick Greaves, Galleria La Citta, Padua, Italy
1969
Derrick Greaves, Institute of Contemporary Art, London
1963
Derrick Greaves, Zwemmer Gallery, London
1962
Derrick Greaves, Zwemmer Gallery, London
1960
Derrick Greaves, Zwemmer Gallery, London
1958
Derrick Greaves, Zwemmer Gallery, London
1955
Derrick Greaves, Beaux Arts Gallery, London
1953
Derrick Greaves, Beaux Arts Gallery, London
Selected Group Exhibitions:
2021
Masterpieces of Twentieth Century British Art, James Hyman Gallery, London
2020
The Printed Line, Worcester City Art Gallery and Museum
2018
Picturing People, The Lightbox, Woking
Home British Drawings, Paintings, Photographs, Prints, Sculpture, Watercolours, James Hyman Gallery, London
Inhabit: Composing Settings From The Towner Collection, Towner Art Gallery, Eastbourne
Prints from the Grundy's Collection, Grundy Art Gallery, Blackpool
2017
Seeing Through Drawing. A celebration of John Berger, Mandell's Gallery, Norwich
In Their Own Words: Artist's Voices from the Ingram Collection, The Lightbox, Woking
2016
The Human Abstract (with Tony Bevan, Bill Brandt, Harry Callahan, Dennis Creffield, Derrick Greaves, Zhang Huan, Andre Kertesz, Henry Moore, Andy Warhol), James Hyman Gallery, London
2015
British Abstract, 108 Fine Art, Harrogate
European & British Masters, John Davies Gallery, Moreton-in-Marsh
2014
Variations on a Theme, James Hyman Gallery, London
Twentieth Century British Art 2014, James Hyman Gallery, London
2013
Twentieth Century British Art 2013, James Hyman Gallery, London
The Ingram Collection: The Colourful Lives of Artists, The Lightbox, Woking
2012
Twentieth Century British Art 2012, James Hyman Gallery, London
The British Pavilion Reassessed. The 1956 British Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, James Hyman Gallery, London
2011
Beyond the Human Clay, James Hyman Gallery, London
2010
Modernist Realism. The School of London from Andrews to O'Donoghue, James Hyman Gallery, London
2009
Museum Quality. Important Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture, James Hyman Gallery, London
2007
The Flower of Life, James Hyman Gallery, London
2006
Home and Away, James Hyman Gallery, London
Portraits, James Hyman Gallery, London
New Directions. Paintings and Drawings by Michael Andrews, Peter de Francia, Derrick Greaves and Robert Medley, James Hyman Gallery, London
2005
Fifty Years of British Landscape Painting, James Hyman Gallery, London
1996
Private Views, Contact Gallery, Norwich
Flowers in May, King of Hearts Gallery, Norwich
1994
Kitchen Sink and Other Drawings of the Fifties, Mayor Gallery, London
1993
Christmas Exhibition, King of Hearts Gallery, Norwich
Summer Exhibition, The Royal Academy, London
New Norfolk Drawings, King's Lynn Arts Centre
Open Exhibition, King's Lynn Arts Centre
1992
Summer Exhibition, The Royal Academy, London
1991
The Kitchen Sink Painters, Mayor Gallery, London
Norfolk Portfolio, Castle Museum, Norwich
Summer Exhibition, The Royal Academy, London
The Discerning Eye, Mall Galleries, London
1990
Summer Exhibition, The Royal Academy, London
1989
Summer Exhibition, The Royal Academy, London
Portrait of the Artist, The Tate Gallery, London
1987
150th Anniversary Exhibition of Printmaking, Royal College of Art, London
Within these Shores. A Selection of Works from the Chantrey Bequest 1883 - 1985, Tate Gallery, London
1986
Generations Apart, Mappin Art Gallery, Sheffield
1984
British Artists' Books 1970-1983, Atlantis Gallery, London
The Forgotten Fifties, travelling exhibition
1980
The British Art Show, toured Sheffield, Newcastle and Bristol
1981
Israel Observed, Mall Galleries, London
Books and Folios, Arts Council Touring Exhibition
1978
Exposicion International de la Plastica, Chile
1977
British Painting 1952-77, Royal Academy, London
1974
British Painting '74, Haymarket Gallery, London
1969
John Moore's Exhibition, Liverpool
1964
Carnegie International Exhibition, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
1963
British Painting in the 60s, Whitechapel Gallery, London
1961
John Moore's Exhibition, Liverpool
1960
Guggenheim Selection, Pittsburgh / London
1959
John Moore's Exhibition, Liverpool
1957
John Moore's Exhibition, Liverpool
Looking at People, Pushkin Museum, Moscow, Russia
1956
Contemporary Arts Society, London
British Pavilion. Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy
Selected Collections:
Arts Council Collection
Bank of Ireland, Dublin
Berado Collection, Sintra, Portugal
British Council
British Museum Collection
Castle Museum, Norwich
Chantrey Bequest
City of Milton Keynes Collection
Contemporary Arts Society
Cranfield College of Technology
Department of the Environment
Government Art Collection
Graves Art Gallery, Sheffield
IBM, New York
Ingram Collection
Johannesburg Public Gallery
Leeds Art Gallery
Leicestershire County Collection
Municipal Gallery of Modern Art, Dublin
New York Public Library
Norfolk Contemporary Arts Association
North Wales Association of Arts Northwestern University, Chicago
Pembroke College, Oxford
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Public Gallery, Adelaide, South Australia
Reading Art Gallery
Southampton Art Gallery
Tate Gallery, London
University of Wales, Aberystwyth
Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool
Wesleyan University, Chicago
Selected Publications:
Painting 1952 - 1977, Royal Academy, Catalogue, 1977
The British Art Show, toured Sheffield, Newcastle and Bristol, Catalogue, 1980
Derrick Greaves. Paintings 1953 - 80, Graves Art Gallery, Sheffield, Catalogue, 1980
Israel Observed, An Exhibition by 10 British Artists, Catalogue, 1981
Books and Folios, Arts Council Touring Exhibition, Catalogue, 1981
British Artists' Books 1970-83, Atlantis Gallery, Catalogue, 1984
The Forgotten Fifties, Catalogue, 1984
Derrick Greaves - Forty from Ten, Loughborough and tour, Catalogue with text by Peter Wheeler, 1986
150th Anniversary Exhibition of Printmaking from the Royal College, Catalogue, 1987
Exhibition Road - Painters at the Royal College of Art, Phaidon-Christie's Ltd, 1988
Portrait of the Artist, Tate Gallery, 1989
Within these Shores - A Selection of Works from the Chantrey Bequest 1883 - 1985, Tate Gallery, Catalogue, 1989
The Kitchen Sink Painters, Mayor Gallery, London, Catalogue, 1993
New Norfolk Drawings, King's Lynn Arts Centre, Catalogue with text by Elspeth Barker, 1993
"Kitchen Sink School", Arts Review, 1994
"Except the Kitchen Sink, Derrick Greaves", Arts Review, June 1994
Kitchen Sink and other drawings of the Fifties, Mayor Gallery, London, Catalogue with text by Gail-Nina Anderson, 1994
"The Artist's Eye", Arts Review, 1997
"Artist's Profiles - Derrick Greaves", Print Making Today, 1997
The Battle for Realism, James Hyman, Yale University Press, 2001
Derrick Greaves. Paintings and Drawings 1952 -2002, James Hyman Gallery, Catalogue, 2003
Derrick Greaves. The Pleasures of Drawing, James Hyman Gallery, Catalogue, 2005
Derrick Greaves: From Kitchen-Sink to Shangri-La, James Hyman, Lund Humphries, 2007
Derrick Greaves. The Barley Bird: Notes on the Suffolk Nightingale, Richard Mabey, Full Circle Editions, 2010
Derrick Greaves. Milestones, James Hyman Gallery, Catalogue, 2012
Derrick Greaves. All Blues, James Hyman Gallery, Catalogue, 2013
Irises, etc. Recent paintings and watercolours by Derrick Greaves, Mandell's Gallery, Norwich, 2018
Derrick Greaves. Blossom, Mandell's Gallery, Norwich and James Hyman Gallery, London, 2020
Books and Folios:
Also, Seven screenprints with text by Roy Fisher, published by Tetrad Press, London 1972
The Songs of Bilitis, Suite of 25 screenprints, published by the Artist, 1977
The Sower as Self-Portrait, Homage to Van Gogh, A portfolio of screenprints and etchings, published by the Artist, 1986
Sanskrit Love Poems, Nine screenprints with text, published by Tetrad Press, 1987
Nightingale, A portfolio of prints, published by James Hyman Gallery, 2010