10th Jun, 2026 12:00
Live Sale: Fine Paintings, Works on Paper and Sculpture June 2026
50
⊕ FRANK AVRAY WILSON (MAURITIAN 1914-2009)
ABSTRACT RED AND BLUE
signed and dated Avray Wilson / 87 lower left
oil on board
41 x 51cm; 16 x 20in
54.5 x 65cm; 21 1/2 x 25 1/2in (framed)
Provenance
Purchased from the artist by the present owner in 1989
Avray Wilson studied Biology at Cambridge before spending time in Paris and Norway after the Second World War. His interest in Abstract Expressionism developed via his exposure to the New York School of artists and his exploration of the spontaneous brushwork, drips and scribble-like marks that characterised Tachisme in Europe. Back in London, he became a member of the progressive Free Painters Group and befriended like-minded tachiste Denis Bowen. With Bowen, Avray Wilson founded the New Vision Centre Gallery in 1956 and during the next decade promoted hard-edged, lyrical and expressive forms of abstraction, balancing free and explosive impulses with geometry and structure, reflecting both his scientific study and contemporary currents in European painting. A regular visitor to Paris during the 1950s, Avray Wilson enjoyed a succession of solo exhibitions in London, Paris and Brussels, and participated in group shows alongside Hans Hartung, Alfred Manessier, Georges Mathieu, Jean-Paul Riopelle and Pierre Soulages, exhibiting jointly with Soulages in 1956 and 1957. Retrospectives of his work were held by the Paisnel Gallery in 2011 and by Whitford Fine Art in 2016 and 2018.
Sold for £700
ABSTRACT RED AND BLUE
signed and dated Avray Wilson / 87 lower left
oil on board
41 x 51cm; 16 x 20in
54.5 x 65cm; 21 1/2 x 25 1/2in (framed)
Provenance
Purchased from the artist by the present owner in 1989
Avray Wilson studied Biology at Cambridge before spending time in Paris and Norway after the Second World War. His interest in Abstract Expressionism developed via his exposure to the New York School of artists and his exploration of the spontaneous brushwork, drips and scribble-like marks that characterised Tachisme in Europe. Back in London, he became a member of the progressive Free Painters Group and befriended like-minded tachiste Denis Bowen. With Bowen, Avray Wilson founded the New Vision Centre Gallery in 1956 and during the next decade promoted hard-edged, lyrical and expressive forms of abstraction, balancing free and explosive impulses with geometry and structure, reflecting both his scientific study and contemporary currents in European painting. A regular visitor to Paris during the 1950s, Avray Wilson enjoyed a succession of solo exhibitions in London, Paris and Brussels, and participated in group shows alongside Hans Hartung, Alfred Manessier, Georges Mathieu, Jean-Paul Riopelle and Pierre Soulages, exhibiting jointly with Soulages in 1956 and 1957. Retrospectives of his work were held by the Paisnel Gallery in 2011 and by Whitford Fine Art in 2016 and 2018.
Auction: Live Sale: Fine Paintings, Works on Paper and Sculpture June 2026, 10th Jun, 2026
L.S. Lowry’s expansive Figures on a Beach (lot 39) is the lead painting in our June sale that ranges from the Old Masters to Modern British and post-War & Contemporary. Many of the works have been in the same collection for decades; a number have fascinating stories attached.
The first seven lots of Dutch and Flemish Old Masters are from the collection of Paul Wertheimer. Acquired almost hundred years ago, Wertheimer brought the works to England when he fled Germany in 1938. Leading the group are 17th century panels attributed to Moses van Uyttenbroeck and Lucas van Uden, the latter a reduced copy of Rubens’ original in the Royal Collection (lots 1 & 4). Another early panel, a portrait of Cornelisz. Van Beresteyn, is by a follower of Michiel Jansz. van Miereveld (lot 9).
Works by fellow artists and friends Augustus John and Edgar Augustus ‘Loben’ Slade (lots 20-25) feature John’s early portrait of Loben and five works on paper by the lesser known Slade, nephew of the founder of the Slade School of Art, one of which is a watercolour of Jessie McNeill, John’s model, muse and mistress.
Also in the sale are seven works by Australian artists, including Jeffrey Smart, William Blamire Young and Leonard French, all from a private collection in Surrey (lots 30-36), and ten paintings from a Cheshire Collection that features the work of Helen Bradley, Edouard Cortes and Marcel Dyf together with bracing coastal views by Campbell Archibald Mellon (lots 40-48).
A small and fascinating work on paper is by Paul Nash. It captures the view of Harry Rocks off Ballard Down from Nash's flat in Swanage where he was living in the mid-1930s and which he incorporated into his Surrealist work ahead of the major Surrealist exhibition in London of 1936 (lot 27).
Beside the Lowry beach scene, other post-War works include an important early sculpture by James Tower (lot 52), a leading sculptor-ceramicist of his generation. Other post-War abstract works include examples by Frank Avray Wilson, James Hull and Etienne Beothy (lots 50, 51, 55 & 57).
For more information please contact us | pictures@olympiaauctions.com | +44 (0)20 7806 5541
Viewing
PUBLIC EXHIBITION:
Sunday 7th June: 12pm - 4pm
Monday 8th June: 10am - 8pm (Drinks 5 - 8pm)
Tuesday 9th June: 10am - 5pm
