This is a very eye-catching mid-1960s screenprint by the artist Gordon House (1932 - 2004).
It is a much sought after work by him and another impression is in the collection of Tate Modern, London and also in the Arts Council. So it is certainly of musum quality!
This is a screenprint from his set of six screenprints. House described the set as: 'A series where a given format is divided to allow for a play of order and randomness, symmetric and asymmetric still allowing for motif influence mostly of contemporary urban origin’.
It features in Gordon House Editions (1961-1981): A Complete Catalogue of the Graphic Works’, Cat. No. 11.
It is pencil signed on the lower margin, inscribed with the title and the date 1965, as photographed. It comes from an edition of 50 impressions.
It is newly framed with a fresh mount and black wooden moulding. It is ready to hang on your wall (the reframing cost just over £100). It is in fine condition - but in the past had been laid down on a layer of fine card, but this is stable, unseen and does not affect the display of the artwork.
Postage will be capped at £25 for this artwork in the UK. We will send with Parcelforce24. We will also take out as part of this cost, private special insurance so the artwork is fully insured against loss or damage in transit.
BIOGRAPHY:
Gordon House was born in Pontardawe, South Wales in 1932. At the age of fourteen, he accepted a grant to study art. He attended both the Luton School of Art in Bedfordshire and St. Albans School of Art in Hertfordshire. Upon graduation from art school, House worked at an advertising agency. House utilized the typography and graphic design skills he gained throughout the rest of his career. He eventually would go on to work as an independent graphic designer and typographer. In 1952 House was offered the position of designer for Imperial Chemical Industries Plastics Division where he stayed until 1959
In the early days of his career as an artist, House created monumental works of abstracted landscape scenes. He was an important participant in the London art scene of the 1960s.
House produced his first prints in 1961. He is known for working in mediums including screenprint, etching, woodcut, and lithography. He helped to elevate the status of screenprinting as an artform in London. A 1981 retrospective of House’s prints was exhibited at the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The exhibition was later shown at the Brooklyn Museum in Brooklyn, New York.
House’s work can be found in collections including the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, England; Tate Gallery in London, England; Museum of Modern Art in New York, New York, Indianapolis Museum of Art in Indianapolis, Indiana; Harvard Art Museum in Cambridge, Massachusetts; and the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra.
In 1967, through his connexions with artist Peter Black and art dealer Robert Fraser, Gordon House, along with Gene Mahon and Al Vandenberg, designed the back sleeve of the “Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” album. He was in charge of the typography elements of the back sleeve. A year later, in 1968, he worked again for The Beatles, in collaboration with Richard Hamilton, to conceive the packaging of the White Album. He came up with the idea of putting a white-on-white …
In 1970, he collaborated with designer Roger Huggett to design the packaging for Paul McCartney’s first solo album, “McCartney.” House was later involved with Ian Dury of ‘Kilburn & the Highroads’ and ‘The Blockheads’ fame. Having designed typography for his various musical projects, in 1995 House produced the ‘What a Waste’ portfolio of screenprints in homage to Ian.
House continued to make paintings and prints into his sixties and seventies, exhibiting in shows in the UK and further afield. House died of a brain tumour in 2004. His obituary was written by the artist, Peter Blake.