Kevin Atkinson
South African 1939-2007
Untitled No.1
signed, dated '67 and numbered 1 on the reverse; inscribed with the artist's name, the title and medium on a label adhered to the reverse
acrylic on canvas
122 by 92cm excluding frame; 123 by 93 by 2,5cm including frame

"Atkinson explained that he made preliminary sketches, meticulously measuring the composition on the canvases. They were placed horizontally on trestles, and areas demarcated with masking tape before applying the paint; he worked on at least three paintings at a time, because ideas complemented each other. He was delving into 'the underlying laws that interrelate colours, light, tone and shape and to create the right composition, using these laws' (South African Jewish Times, 4 August 1967). To achieve this, impeccable execution and numerous permutations and combinations of colours were required. Fast-drying acrylic paint, which had become commercially available in the 1950s, made this technique possible.'1

1. Marylin Martin (ed) (2022) Kevin Atkinson Art and Life, Noordhoek: The Kevin and Patricia Atkinson Trust, page 78.