Basil Beattie Odds and Evens, 1996

Born in 1935 in West Hartlepool, Basil Beattie is part of a collective of artists whose works continued the legacy of post-war Abstract Expressionism in Britain, influenced by the Tate's 1959 pivotal exhibition The New American Painting, which displayed an enthusiasm for work expansive in both scale and subjectivity.

Over a sixty year career Beattie developed his own form of abstraction, distinguishing himself from his contemporaries. Characterised by the inclusion of recurrent forms – some resonant as architectural elements such as ladders, tunnels, windows and stairs, others far more elusive - the defined motifs and broad formats of his paintings impart a layered psychological and physical narrative of space, time and emotion.

Included in numerous international exhibitions and institutional collections, Beattie taught at Goldsmith’s College in London in the 1980s and 90s and was elected a Royal Academician in 2006.