Victor Pasmore was born 100 years ago. The works in this room span his career, from the late 1930s to the 1990s. Pasmore began working in the 1930s and he became one of the most important artists in post-war Britain. During that time, his work developed from Impressionist-like paintings to hard-edged constructions.

In the 1930s Pasmore co-founded the Euston Road School, an institution committed to the naturalistic depiction of real life – a political standpoint aiming to make art socially relevant. The relationship between art and society was an abiding concern and led him to work on architectural projects such as the design of part of Peterlee New Town in County Durham.

During the 1940s Pasmore studied Post-Impressionists like Paul Cézanne and Georges Seurat and his work moved through various phases of modern art until he made some completely abstract paintings in 1948. In the heated debates about the future of art in Britain, this was seen as a major event.

Nature exerted a continual influence. Even the most severely abstract constructions draw upon theories of growth for their forms. This organic element became especially pronounced in the works he made from the 1970s onwards.

This display has been devised by curator Chris Stephens

BP British Art Displays 1500-2009