Philip Sutton RA

Literature

For me colour is all about invention, having the freedom to choose from a

kaleidoscope of options rather than matching reality. I feel like a wild musician

running through an orchestra, playing any instrument I wish.

Philip Sutton RA

Philip Sutton studied under William Coldstream at the Slade School of Fine Art, London from 1948 to 1953. He won the Summer Composition Prize and travelled to Spain, France and Italy on scholarships before returning to teach at the Slade School of Fine Art from 1954 to 1963.

Sutton’s first solo show was held at Roland, Browse and Delbanco in 1956, the year he was elected aMember of the London Group. This was followed by many solo exhibitions throughout the UK, including the Geoffrye Museum, London (1959), 'Retrospective' at Leeds City Art Gallery (1960), exhibitions in Newcastle, Bradford and Edinburgh in (1961) and at the Graves Art Gallery, Sheffield (1971). In 1977 the BBC Arena Programme made a film about his work and a retrospective exhibition of his work was held at

the Royal Academy of Arts, London. His first exhibition in Paris was held at Galerie Joel Salaun in 1988.

Sutton has travelled extensively in order to paint. In 1963 he went to Australia and Fiji, returning the

following year with a large exhibition of tropical landscapes. In 1980 he returned to Australia to paint for

four months, resulting in an exhibition of large paintings of the Great Barrier Reef which were exhibited at

the Royal Academy in 1982. He has also painted in Cornwall, Ireland and Crete.

Philip Sutton RA, has received several commissions, including the design for two tapestries at West

Dean College in 1984 and 1986, a London Transport Soho Poster, and a set of new stamps for the Post

Office in 1987. In 1986 he became involved in painting ceramics and was commissioned by Pentagram to

paint a wall of tiles at the Art Tile Factory, Stoke-on-Trent. An exhibition of his painted ceramics was held

at Odette Gilbert Gallery, London in 1987. In 1995 he began work on a series of paintings on William

Shakespeare which continued for three years. Sutton was elected a Royal Academician in 1988 and lives and

works in Bridport

Public Collections

Arts Council of Great Britain, London

Atkinson Art Gallery, Southport

Burton-on-Trent Museum

Cecil Higgins Museum and Gallery, Bedford

City Art Gallery, Birmingham

City Art Gallery, Bradford

City Art Gallery, Leeds

Durban Museum and Art Gallery, South Africa

Hertford County Council

Kettering Art Gallery

Leeds Education Committee

Leicester City Art Gallery

Lincoln Art Committee

London Stock Exchange

Manchester City Art Gallery

Ministry of Works, London

National Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide

National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne

Royal Leamington Spa Art Gallery & Museum

Perth Art Gallery, Western Australia

Tate Britain, London

Tenby Museum and Art Gallery

1942–45 Leaves school and works in the drawing office of the Norris Warming Company,Bloomsbury

1945–48 National Service at RAF Cosford, Shropshire and Berlin

1948–53 Slade School of Fine Art, London

1952 Wins Slade Summer Composition Prize

1953 Marries Heather Cooke at St Pancras Register Office, London

1953–54 Travel scholarships to Spain, France and Italy

1954–63 Teaches at Slade School of Fine Art, London

1955–58 Lives in Snape, Suffolk

1956 Elected Member of the London Group

First solo exhibition, Roland, Browse and Delbanco, London

1958 Returns to London

Roland, Browse and Delbanco, London

1959 Geffrye Museum, London

1960 Retrospective, City Art Gallery, Leeds

Roland, Browse and Delbanco, London

1962 Stone Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne

Lane Gallery, Bradford

57 Gallery, Edinburgh

Roland, Browse and Delbanco, London

1963 David Jones Gallery, Sydney

Gallery A, Melbourne

Roland, Browse and Delbanco, London

1963–64 Travels to Australia and Fiji

Heather makes the film Philip Sutton Working in Fiji

1965 Roland Browse and Delbanco, London

Private View book

1966 Curwen Gallery, London

1967 Roland, Browse and Delbanco, London

London Arts Gallery, Detroit

1969–79 Spends part of every year in Falmouth, Cornwall

1970 Park Square Gallery, Leeds

David Jones Gallery, Sydney

Art Centre, Folkstone

Arnolfini, Bristol

1971 Graves Art Gallery, Sheffield

Roland, Browse and Delbanco, London

Oxford Gallery, Oxford

1972 Battersea District Library, London

Studio Prints, London

Compendium Galleries, Birmingham

1973 Roland, Browse and Delbanco, London

David Jones Gallery, Sydney

Peterloo Gallery, Manchester

1974 J. P. Lehmans Gallery, London

1975 Roland, Browse and Delbanco, London

1977 Elected Associate Royal Academician

Exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts, London

BBC Arena film

1979 Tours Israel with a group of British artists

Designs poster and banner for Royal Academy Summer Exhibition

Browse and Darby, London

Festival Gallery, Bath

Beaux Arts, Bath

1980 Travels to Australia for four months

David Jones Gallery, Sydney

Margaret Fisher Gallery, London

1981 Browse and Darby, London

Bonython Art Gallery, Adelaide

1982 Royal Academy of Arts, London

Christopher Hull Gallery, London

Browse and Darby, London

Bury St Edmunds Gallery

Contemporanea Gallerie Fur Moderns Kunst, Germany

1983 Paints watercolours in Ireland

John Brinkley Fellows Exhibition, Norwich

1984 Designs tapestry for Shell

Browse and Darby, London

Beaux Arts, Bath

1985 Roland, Browse and Delbanco, London

Friends’ Room, Royal Academy of Arts, London

The Chapter House, Lichfield Cathedral

Designs logo for Investors in Industry (3i)

1986 Designs second tapestry for Shell

Designs wall of tiles for NMB Bank, Amsterdam

Cambridge Gallery, Cambridge

1987 Works on ceramics with Jean-Paul Landreau at the Fulham Pottery, London

Designs set of stamps for the Post Office

Odette Gilbert Gallery, London

Beaux Arts, Bath

1988 Elected Royal Academician

Designs ceramics for Royal Academy restaurant and shop

Travels to New Zealand

Galerie Joel Salaun, Paris

1989 Moves to Manorbier, South Pembrokeshire

Beaux Arts, Bath

1990 Works on ceramics with Jean-Paul Landreau in Wales

Paints watercolours in Italy

Fosse Gallery, Stow-on-the-Wold

1992 Royal Academy of Arts, London

Agnew’s, London

1993–94 Oriel Theatre, Clwyd, Mold, Cardiff, Swansea, Aberystwyth; Picton Castle, Pembrokeshire

1995 Tenby Museum and Art Gallery

1997 ‘My Shakespeare’, Royal Academy of Arts, London

International Shakespeare Globe Centre, London

Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-upon-Avon

Royal Armouries Museum, Leeds

Berkeley Square Gallery, London

1998 Publication of Philip Sutton RA, His Family and His Friends

1999 Berkeley Square Gallery, London

2000 Fosse Gallery, Stow-on-the-Wold

2001 Piano Nobile Gallery, London

2002 Albany Gallery, Cardiff

2004 Gallery 27, London;

Gallery 11a, Leamington Spa

2005–6 Royal Academy of Arts, London;

The Art Gallery and Museum,The Royal Pump Rooms, Leamington Spa;

National Assembly Building, Cardiff

2006 Richmond Hill Gallery, London

2007 Richmond Hill Gallery, London

2008 Publication of Philip Sutton Life and Works

Richmond Hill Gallery, London

Gallery 27, Cork St., London

Cork Street Gallery, 28 Cork St., London

Dover Street Arts Club, London

2009 Richmond Hill Gallery, London

Cork Street Gallery, 28 Cork St., London

2010 Richmond Hill Gallery, London

Cork Street Gallery, 28 Cork St., London

2011 Richmond Hill Gallery, London

Cork Street Gallery, 28 Cork St., London

2012 Richmond Hill Gallery, London

2013 Richmond Hill Gallery, London

2014 Sladers Yard, West Bay

2015 Richmond Hill Gallery, London

2016 Richmond Hill Gallery, London

2017 Sladers Yard, West Bay