David Shaw (painter)

David Shaw (4 March 1952 – 27 December 1989), painter, print-maker and lecturer.

David Douglas Ernest Shaw, the son of William Shaw by his wife Alice Frid, was born, lived and died in Kent. Educated at Canterbury College of Art from 1970–73; he returned there around 1984 as a lecturer in the fine art department and drawing tutor to graphics department. (Addresses included Doghouse Farm, Petham, Canterbury (c1976), and The Mill House, Kennington, Ashford (1980s-death)).

Critical description

Edward Lucie-Smith: in Art & Artists 1982: But these paintings have another dimension-they are not only prose, but poetry.... these pictures are therefore memorable not only for their remarkable technical accomplishment but because they leave such a long and lingering echo in our minds;

The clean, powerful draughtsmanship which Shaw brought to these pictures [de Louville's Ebury gallery 1982] provided part of the inspiration for a mixed exhibition of male nudes, as the quality of his work, and also the response it received, suggested that the time had come for a reconsideration of the subject

Male Nude

Shaw had six works in The Male Nude, A modern view, organised by Francis de Louville and held at Homeworks, Pimlico Road, London it ran from November 15, 1983 – January 1984. De Louville was aided by Mary-Rose Beaumont (chairman), John Russell-Taylor, Dr John George (editor of Art & Artists), Emmanuel Cooper, and Edward Lucie-Smith.

Apart from Shaw the exhibition featured pictures by the following: Aldo Semenzato, Beryl Cook, Patrick Procktor, Manuel Cancel, Diccon Swan, Sandra Fisher, Philip Coxe, Polly Hope, Sarah Lloyd, Harry Holland, George Beven, Maggi Hambling, Michael Leonard, Harry Buckinx, Anna Maria Hancke, Craigie Aitchison, Duggie Fields, Elizabeth Frink, Val Archer, Mario Dubsky, David Hockney, Duncan Grant, Delmar Howe, R. B. Kitaj, Andreas Moureal, Barney Wan, Jill Tweed, and Dhruma Mistry. Shaw's contributions to the show were:

• Sleep, 13 x 20 inches, pencil on paper, 1983;
• Meccano, 36 x 42 inches, acrylic on canvas 1982;
• Study for Sway/Wild horses;
• Sway/Wild Horses, acrylic on canvas, 44 x 46 inches, 1983;
• In Balance, acrylic on canvas, 38 x 38 inches, 1983; and the lithograph,
• L'homme et le Pantin-inert, 16 x 17 inches, 1982 (edition of 75).

Shaw Studio sale

Shaw's studio sale was held at Bonham's, Lots Road, London on 15 December 1994. The whole studio, divided by Bonham's into sixty lots, had been left to the Artists General Benevolent Fund. A short introduction to the catalogue was provided by fellow Kentish painter John Stanton Ward, RA (1917–2007), who began: I used to see David Shaw bring his pictures to my son's workshop for framing and so came to know both him and his painting. A framer's a good place to meet painters and see their work.... Works in oil or acrylic-on-canvas, board or paper included: Fidelio, All Hearts, Virgin and Shadow, Vesuvius (1983), Apollo Holding the String, Icarus, Bird and Fish and Mountains, Circus of Bread (Meccano) (1982), Terminal Street (1981), Circle of Bread, Narcissus Nuzzled by Goldfish, The Clown Chaos, Perseus and Andromeda, Come and Play (1983), Girl with Saucers, Art Ghetto (1987), Leonora, The Children in the Apple Tree (1985–86), Sleeping, Mortal Coil (1984), Study for Mildred's, Study for Gladiator, Nijinsky Dreams of Dolphins (1985), Miss Phoebe, Cover the Waterfront, The Playground, Venus Lux Amoris (1985), Invisible Bird (1981), The Clown Chaos, Sty Window (July 1978), Scarecrow, Nijinsky 4, Meniscus (caught napping) (1983), In Balance (1983), Mannequin, Balcony Balloon (1981), Pyjama Game (1981), Fragile (1979), Astound Me (Joke Version).

Screenprints or serigraphs in the sale included copies of: East/West I (1986), Babel by Day (1987), Babel by Night (1987), Cocteau Holy Ghosts, Fidelio III, Fidelio I, Faerie, Nijinsky's Room, Sunset over Babel, Sphinx Analog, along with the lithograph L'homme et le Pantin inert.

Group exhibitions

• RA 1976, no. 992, Wattle Hurdle, pencil;
• Galerie Mathilde, Amsterdam, 1979;
• Bede Gallery, Jarrow, 1979;
• P.S. Galleries, Dallas, 1981 & 1983;
• P.S. Galleries, Maine, 1982;
• November 15, 1983 - March 1984, six works in The Male Nude, A modern view, at Homeworks, Pimlico Road, London, organised by Francois de Louville, Mary-Rose Beaumont (chairman), John Russell-Taylor, Dr John George (editor of Art & Artists), Emmanuel Cooper, Edward Lucie-Smith, & Francois de Louville.

Solo shows

• Aberbach Fine Art, 17 Savile Row, London, 1977, 1978, 1980;
• Ebury Gallery, 89 Ebury Street, London, 1982 L'homme et le Pantin;
• Thumb Gallery [Jill George], 20/21 D'Arbaly Street, Soho, London, 1985;
• Henley Festival, Pastoral Perspectives 1973-1985; in tandem with works by John Piper;
• Line Art Gallery (part of Art Line Magazine), 1-3 Garratt Lane, SW18, Serigraphs, January 1988.

Texts

• The Male Nude, A modern view, organised by Francois de Louville, etal. Text and introduction by Edward Lucie-Smith, Phaidon Press, Oxford or Rizzoli International, 1985. (Retrospective catalogue of an exhibition which opened on November 15, 1983 and closed January 1984, at Homeworks, Pimlico Road, London);
• Obituary in The Guardian, 8 January 1990, by Emmanuel Cooper and Nicholas de Jongh;
• Bonham's Lots Road, London. David Shaw studio sale, 15 December 1994, 2pm. Catalogued by James Ulph.

Persondata
Name	Shaw, David
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	4 March 1952
Place of birth
Date of death	27 December 1989
Place of death